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T  Sinclairs  litk,PMa- 


JAPAN. 


A  WINTER  SCENE  IN 

FROM  A  JAPANESE 


DRAWING . 


NARRATIVE 


OF 


THE  EARL  OE  ELGIN’S  MISSION 


TO 


CHINA  AND  JAPAN 


IN  THE  YEARS  1857,  !58,  '59. 


BY 


LAURENCE  OLIPHANT,  Esq., 

PRIVATE  SECRETARY  TO  LORD  ELGIN. 

Author  of  the  “  Russian  Shores  of  the  Black  Sea,”  etc. 


“All  sad  the  scene,  a  cheerless  spot! 

Ah !  wo,  I  cry,  an  Envoy’s  lot — 

Exiled,  forlorn !  Hoav  small  his  fame ! 

Peace,  saith  my  muse  ;  I’ll  aid  thee  bear 
Thine  honored  toils.  Away  with  care, 

Nor  murmur  at  thy  country’s  claim.” 

Hwasiiana’s  Complaint,  p.  295. 


NEW  YORK: 

HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  PUBLISHERS, 

FRANKLIN  SQUARE. 

1860. 


PREFACE. 


In  the  following  pages  I  have  endeavored  to  give  a  history  of 
the  proceedings  of  the  Special  Mission  to  China  and  Japan,  which 
extended  over  a  period  of  two  years.  It  has  been  thrown  into 
the  shape  of  a  personal  narrative,  in  the  hope  that  it  would  con¬ 
vey,  in  a  more  amusing  and  readable  form,  the  record  of  our  ex¬ 
periences  in  those  empires. 

Events  have  recently  transpired  in  China  which  are  deeply  to 
be  regretted,  although  they  may  possibly  invest  this  work  with  an 
interest  that  it  might  not  else  have  deserved.  The  untoward 
character  of  those  events,  and  the  serious  consequences  which  they 
will  probably  entail,  seemed  to  warrant  my  entering  at  greater 
length  than  I  should  otherwise  have  done  into  details  more  espe¬ 
cially  connected  with  the  policy  which  Lord  Elgin  thought  it  ex¬ 
pedient  to  adopt,  and  the  difficulties  with  which  he  had  to  contend 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Peiho, 

The  description  I  have  given  of  Japan  may  very  possibly  be 
found  to  be  somewhat  at  variance  with  the  accounts  which  we 
may  continue  to  receive  from  that  empire.  It  is  nevertheless  in 
accordance  with  the  results  of  our  observation,  and,  I  trust,  con¬ 
veys  truthfully  the  impressions  we  were  led  to  form  of  that  coun¬ 
try  during  our  short  residence  in  its  capital.  The  circumstances 
under  which  we  visited  it  were,  perhaps,  calculated  to  present  to 
us  the  bright  rather  than  the  gloomy  side  of  the  picture.  Our 
imaginations  had  not  been  excited  by  the  glowing  descriptions  of 
former  visitors,  and  our  most  sanguine  anticipations  consequently 
fell  far  short  of  the  pleasing  reality.  We  met  with  frankness  and 
courtesy  where  we  expected  suspicion  and  reserve.  In  a  country 
noted  for  its  jealous  distrust  of  foreigners,  we  enjoyed  an  entire 


IV 


PREFACE. 


immunity  from  all  restrictions  upon  our  personal  liberty.  We 
were  prepared  for  a  diplomatic  contest  with  a  government  rigid  in 
its  adherence  to  a  traditional  policy  of  exclusiveness.  A  fortnight 
sufficed  to  enable  us  to  conclude  a  treaty  with  it  upon  a  most  lib¬ 
eral  basis.  We  had  just  passed  a  year  in  China,  and  all  compari¬ 
sons  made  with  that  empire  were  in  favor  of  Japan. 

That  certain  special  reasons  may  have  operated  to  render  our 
reception  at  Yedo  altogether  exceptional,  and  to  secure  our  dip¬ 
lomatic  success,  is  very  possible.  It  was  only  natural  to  suppose 
that,  when  those  reasons  had  ceased  to  exist,  those  who  followed 
us  should  experience  a  very  different  treatment. 

In  the  accounts  furnished  by  strangers  of  little-known  countries, 
much  depends  upon  the  medium  through  which  their  observations 
are  made — much  also  upon  their  capacity  and  knowledge  of  the 
world.  Thus  the  diplomatist  who  expects  to  find  the  Japanese 
guided  by  the  moral  code  of  Western  nations — desirous  of  giving 
effect  to  the  stipulations  of  a  treaty  which  they  only  accepted  as  an 
inevitable  necessity,  and  anxious  to  increase  their  intercourse  with 
a  race  which  has  been  held  for  upward  of  two  centuries  in  aver¬ 
sion  and  abhorrence — will  probably  describe  them  in  a  manner 
calculated  to  reflect  less  on  their  intelligence  than  his  own.  So 
the  merchant,  who  expresses  indignation  and  disgust  at  the  reluct¬ 
ance  of  the  government  to  assist  him  in  his  commercial  enterprises 
— at  its  peculiar  notions  of  political  economy,  and  at  the  ignorance 
betrayed  by  his  customers  of  all  mercantile  transactions  on  a  grand 
scale,  is  certainly  not  likely  to  succeed  in  establishing  a  large  “  con¬ 
nection  while  a  gentleman  whose  previous  range  of  observation 
has  been  limited,  on  arriving  in  Japan  from  England,  may  be  sur¬ 
prised  at  finding  that  it  differs  in  some  respects,  in  a  social  point 
of  view,  from  his  own  country,  and  that  the  same  articles  of  diet 
are  not  universally  used  by  the  human  family  in  all  quarters  of 
the  globe. 

It  is,  however,  most  desirable  that  a  new  country  should  be 
presented  in  all  its  aspects ;  and  it  is  only  just  to  ourselves  to 
state  that  the  impressions  we  received  during  the  brief  period  of 


PREFACE. 


Y 


our  stay  in  Yedo  are  thoroughly  borne  out  by  the  experiences 
of  the  Dutch,  whose  knowledge  of  the  Japanese  has  extended  over 
a  period  of  two  centuries  and  a  half,  as  well  as  confirmed  by  those 
Americans  who  have  resided  for  some  years  in  the  country.  Mean¬ 
time  we  may  hope  for  the  most  beneficial  results  from  the  embassy 
which  is  about  to  be  dispatched  by  the  Japanese  government  to  the 
nations  of  the  W est. 

The  very  talented  and  truthful  drawings,  of  which  I  have  been 
permitted  by  Lord  Elgin  to  avail  myself,  were  presented  to  his 
lordship  by  Mr.  Bed  well,  R.Nf,  who  accompanied  the  mission  to 
Japan  in  the  yacht  Emperor. 

I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Jocelyn  for  several  admirable  photographs 
of  the  principal  Chinese  officials  with  whom  we  came  in  contact. 
My  thanks  are  also  due  to  Dr.  Saunders  for  the  Meteorological 
Register  with  which  he  kindly  furnished  me. 


Athenaeum  Club,  1 5th  Dec.,  1859. 


' 


>,t  r  •.  |  |.|B 

'  .  .  r  . ' 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  Origin  of  the  War. — The  “Arrow  Case.” — Policy  of  Sir  John  Bowring. — Hos¬ 
tilities  at  Canton. — Right  of  Entry  into  the  City. — Bombardment  of  Yeh’s  Yamun. 
— The  Results. — Insult  to  American  Flag. — Destruction  of  the  Factories. — Aban¬ 
donment  of  the  Factory  Position. — Position  of  Affairs  in  February,  1857. — Effect 
of  the  foregoing  Operations . Page  17 


CHAPTER  II. 

Appointment  and  Departure  of  special  Mission. — Outbreak  of  the  Mutiny  in  India. 
— Arrival  at  Singapore. — Its  Chinese  Population. — Causes  of  their  Discontent. — 
Their  Value  as  Colonists. — Trip  to  the  main  Land. — Residence  of  the  Tumangong. 
— Wild  Sports  of  the  Malay  Peninsula. — Gambier  Plantations. — Luxuriant  For¬ 
rest. — The  Village  of  Tubrao. — Depredations  of  Tigers. — Great  Increase  of  Culti¬ 
vation. — Start  on  a  Tiger-hunt. — Unsuccessful  Result. — Arrival  at  Johore. — Ma¬ 
lay  Houses  of  Johore. — Historical  Associations  of  Johore. — A  picturesque  Repast. 
— Return  to  Singapore. — Its  rapid  Progress. — Its  Future .  26 

CHAPTER  III. 

Arrival  at  Hong  Kong. — Trip  up  the  Canton  River. — A  complicated  international 
Question. — Chuenpee. — Monster  Cannon. — Apathy  of  Population. — Macao  Fort. 
— Unhealthiness  of  the  River. — Spread  of  the  Mutiny. — Its  Influence  on  Lord  El¬ 
gin’s  Policy. — Return  to  Singapore. — Address  of  mercantile  Community. — Arrival 
at  Calcutta. — Sensation  created. — Moral  Effect  produced  on  the  Natives .  43 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Condition  of  India  in  August,  1857. — State  of  Calcutta. — Organization  of  naval 
Brigade. — The  Mohurrum. — Departure  from  Calcutta. — Policy  adopted  by  Lord 
Elgin. — Residence  at  Hong  Kong. — Its  Absence  of  Attractions. — A  Trip  up  the 
River. — Macao. — A  Chinese  Dinner . . .  53 

CHAPTER  V. 

Voyage  to  the  Philippines. — Arrival  at  Manilla. — Appearance  of  the  Town. — A 
varied  Population. — Their  Costumes. — Tobacco-manufactory. — The  Price  of  To¬ 
bacco. — A  Pina  Shop. — Indolence  of  the  Mestizoes. — Industry  of  the  Chinese 
Population. — Chinese  Emigration  :  its  Advantages. — The  Captain  General  of  the 
Philippines. — Military  Mass. — A  Trip  to  Cavite. — A  religious  Procession. — Ex¬ 
cursion  to  the  Lago  de  Bai. — Los  Banos. — The  Romance  of  La  Gironiere. — The 
Island  of  Socolme. — A  stormy  Voyage. — The  Trade  of  Manilla .  60 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Attempt  of  Count  Poutiatine  to  reach  Pekin.— Lawless  Proceedings  in  the  Canton 
River. — Singular  native  Proclamation. — The  Hall  of  Peace  and  Patriotism. — 


Vlll 


CONTENTS. 


Preparations  for  War. — The  Ultimatum. — Occupation  of  Honan. — Yell’s  Answer. 
— Report  of  a  Conversation  between  the  Emperor  Hien  Fung  and  Ki  Shuh-tsan. — 

•  Embarkation  on  board  the  Furious. — Disappearance  of  the  floating  Population. — 
Aspect  of  the  river  Face  of  Canton. — Expiry  of  the  Delay. — Anchorage  at  Dane’s 
Island. — Temper  of  the  Inhabitants. — Delay  of  the  Bombardment . Page  75 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Landing  of  the  Troops. — Advance  on  Lin’s  Fort. — Treacherous  Mode  of  Warfare. 
— Capture  of  Lin’s  Fort. — Attack  of  the  Braves. — Position  for  the  Night. — The 
Bombardment  is  continued. — Death  of  Captain  Bate. — Skirmish  with  Braves. — 
Escalade  of  the  Walls  of  Canton. — Aspect  of  the  City. — Scene  from  Magazine 
Hill. — Capture  of  the  City. — Capture  of  Gough’s  Fort. — Chinese  Looting-parties. 
— Tartar  Garrison  of  Canton. — Condition  of  the  public  Buildings. — Explosion  of 
a  Magazine .  91 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

New-Year’s  Day,  1858. — Exploration  of  the  City  by  the  Allies. — Capture  of  Yeh. — 
Yeh’s  Memorial  to  Pekin. — Behavior  of  Yeh  in  Captivity. — Conference  relative 
to  the  Government  of  Canton. — Plans  Proposed. — Scheme  ultimately  adopted. — 
Installation  of  Pihkwei. — Lord  Elgin’s  Address  to  Pihkwei. — Pihkwei’s  Reply. — 
Institution  of  a  civil  Tribunal. — Moral  and  political  Effects  of  the  Occupation  of 
Canton .  104 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Withdrawal  of  the  naval  Force. — Yamun  of  the  Tartar  General. — “  The  Hall  of 
State.” — The  ornamental  Gardens. — Scenes  at  the  Landing-place. — The  Hall  of 
Examination. — The  “Avenue  of  Benevolence  and  Love.” — Open-air  Cookery. — 
Streets  of  Canton. — Joss-houses  of  Canton. — Future  Punishments  illustrated. — 
Allied  police  Corps. — Pihkwei’s  Proclamations. — A  Luncheon  at  Howqua’s.  — 
Pihkwei’s  Dispatch  on  Trade. — Proposal  to  raise  the  Blockade .  115 

CHAPTER  X. 

Diplomacy  in  China. — Policy  of  the  neutral  Powers. — Proposed  Expedition  to  the 
North. — Opinion  of  Count  Poutiatine. — Proclamation  raising  Blockade. — Putin- 
qua’s  Gardens. — River  Scenes. — Lord  Elgin’s  Visit  to  the  Prisons. — State  of  the 
Prisoners. — Fate  of  Yeh. — Lord  Elgin’s  Letter  to  Yu. — Departure  for  Shanghai. 
— Amoy. — Arrival  at  Shanghai. — Departure  for  Soo-chow. — Facilities  of  Water- 
communication. — Canal  Scenes. — State  of  the  Population. — Mr.  Maclane’s  Visit 
to  Soo-chow. — Boat-life  on  the  Canals .  125 

CHAPTER  XI. 

The  imperial  Grand  Canal. — Arrival  at  Soo-chow. — Entry  of  the  City. — Curiosity 
of  the  Populace. — Reception  by  the  Governor. — A  complimentary  Dialogue. — A 
Chinese  official  Repast. — Politeness  of  our  Host. — Chinese  Etiquette. — Political 
Effect  of  our  Visit. — Reasons  against  exploring  the  City. — Exploration  of  the 
Water  Suburb. — The  Boat  Population. — Manners  and  Customs  of  the  People. — 
A  nocturnal  Visitation. — The  Tai-hoo  Lake. — A  Gale  of  Wind. — Residence  at 
Shanghai. — A  Dinner  with  the  Taoutai. — After-dinner  Conversation. — Departure 
for  Ningpo. — Ningpo. — The  Shops  and  Joss-houses. — The  old  Pagoda .  138 


CONTENTS. 


IX 


CHAPTER  XII. 

An  Expedition  to  the  Snowy  Valley. — Mountain  Scenery. — The  Temple  of  the 
Snowy  Crevice. — The  Maou-kao-tae. — The  “Thousand  Fathom  Precipice.” — 
Sewe-kang-ha. — Our  Fellow-lodgers. — The  Dragon  Waterfall. — Departure  from 
the  Snowy  Valley. — Moimtain  Men. — A  Voyage  on  bamboo  Rafts. — Raft  Navi¬ 
gation. — Arrival  at  Chusan. — A  Roman  Catholic  Mission. — A  Chinese  country 
Residence. — Political  Advantages  of  Chusan. — A  British  Grave-yard. — The  sa¬ 
cred  Island  of  Pootoo. — A  degraded  Priesthood. — The  Iligli-priest. — Picturesque 
Temples. — Pilgrims. — Magnificent  View. — Chapoo . Page  154 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Communication  from  the  imperial  Government. — Lord  Elgin’s  Reply. — Sir  John 
Bowring’s  Visit  to  the  Peiho. — Course  pursued  on  that  Occasion. — Lord  Elgin’s 
Application  for  Gun-boats. — The  Roman  Catholic  Mission  of  Siccaway. — System 
of  Education. — Barren  Results  of  Missionary  Labors. — Superstitious  Practices  of 
Converts. — A  “Feast  of  Tabernacles.” — The  Cathedral  of  Tonk-a-doo. — Difficul¬ 
ties  attending  Missionary  Enterprise. — Non-arrival  of  the  Admiral. — Departure 
of  the  Plenipotentiaries  for  the  North. — The  Miatou  Straits. — Aground  on  a 
Sand-bank. — Arrival  in  the  Gulf  of  Pechelee. — Dreary  Weather. — An  Expedi¬ 
tion  across  the  Bar. — Junk-hunting. — Arrival  of  the  American  Minister. — Diffi¬ 
culties  of  the  Situation. — Unnecessary  Delays. — Diplomatic  Difficulties. — Aspect 
of  the  Forts. — Arrival  of  the  Admiral. — The  Dispatch -vessels  cross  the  Bar. — 
Expiry  of  the  Delay. — Postponement  of  Attack. — Political  Consequences  of  the 
Delay .  170 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Perilous  Position  of  Dispatch  Gun-boats. — Strengthening  of  the  Forts. — Arrival  of 
Chinese  Re-enforcements. — The  Question  of  full  Powers. — Anglo-American  Visit 
to  the  Peiho  in  1854. — Intercourse  on  that  Occasion. — Interview  with  Tsung  and 
Tan. — Memorial  of  Commissioners  in  1854. — Reference  to  Pekin. — Contemptuous 
Treatment  by  the  Chinese  Government. — Anxiety  as  to  future  Movements. — Mem¬ 
orandum  of  Sir  M.  Seymour. — Communication  with  Tan. — The  final  Summons. — 
Insolence  of  the  Garrison .  188 


CHAPTER  XV. 

The  Night  before  the  Attack.— Delivery  of  the  Ultimatum.— The  Signal  of  Attack. 
—Advance  of  the  Cormorant.— The  Nimrod  hotly  engaged.— Chinese  Artillery- 
practice.— The  Batteries  stormed.— “  Sauve  qui  peut.”— Terrific  Explosion.— As¬ 
pect  of  the  Fortifications. — Attack  of  the  northern  Forts. — Capture  of  the  last 
Battery.— A  Visit  to  Tan’s  Residence. —Imperial  Edict.— Fate  of  Tan. — His  Ac¬ 
count  of  the  Action. — Tan’s  Yanmn. — A  Poem  “in  Memoriam.” — Return  to  the 
Furious .  198 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Ascent  of  the  River. — A  Crowd  of  Junks. — Astonishment  of  Population. — Their  sub¬ 
missive  Behavior.— Brilliant  Bonfires.— A  Steppe  Country.— Appearance  of  the 
Villages.— Difficulties  of  Navigation. — First  View  of  Tientsin. — A  Deputation  of 
Merchants. — Appointment  of  imperial  Commissioners. — The  Plenipotentiaries  as¬ 
cend  the  Peiho.— Approach  to  Tientsin.— Dense  Crowds.— “The  Temple  of  Su- 


X 


CONTENTS. 


preme  Felicity.” — View  of  the  River. — Making  ourselves  comfortable. — Bedrooms 
in  the  Temple. — Farther  Exploration  of  the  Peiho. — Arrival  of  Russian  and  Amer¬ 
ican  Ministers. — Their  Abodes. — Pean. — Arrival  of  the  imperial  Commissioners. 
— Full  Powers  at  last. — Our  official  Procession. — “  The  Temple  of  the  Oceanic 
Influences.” — Interview  with  the  Commissioners. — Exchange  of  full  Powers. — 
Abrupt  Termination  of  the  Interview. — Arrival  of  the  Kwang-Fang. — Kweiliang. 
Hwashana. — Success  of  Lord  Elgin’s  Policy. — Its  Bearing  on  Affairs  at  Canton. 
— Brighter  Prospects  . Page  214 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

The  Chances  of  a  Chinese  political  Career. — Arrival  of  Keying. — Interview  with 
him. — Adverse  Policy  of  Keying. — His  Hostility  to  the  Commissioners. — Proofs 
of  his  Insincerity. — Second  Interview  of  Messrs.  Wade  and  Lay. — Keying’s  Me¬ 
morial. — Keying’s  Treatment  of  Barbarians. — A  disagreeable  Expose. — Conse¬ 
quences  of  his  Offense.— Lenient  Sentence. — The  Emperor’s  Decree. — Keying's 
Suicide .  238 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Insolence  of  the  Mob. — A  forcible  Entry  into  Tientsin. — Making  Reprisals. — Hostile 
Crowds. — Peaceful  Proclamations. — Plan  of  the  City  of  Tientsin. — Aspect  of  the 
City. — The  Traffic  in  the  Streets. — Declining  Trade  of  Tientsin. — Notice  concern¬ 
ing  the  Crain  Supply. — Present  State  of  the  Grand  Canal. — Official  Expenditure 
of  Grain. — Collection  of  the  Grain-tribute. — State  of  the  Yellow' River. — Obstruc¬ 
tions  in  its  Navigation. — Grain  Transport  by  Sea. — Report  on  the  Grand  Canal. — 
Price  of  Rice  at  Tientsin. — Table  showing  Proceeds  of  Grain-tax. — Trade  of  Tien¬ 
tsin. — Squalor  of  the  Inhabitants. — Burial-places. — Total  Allied  Force  at  Tientsin. 
— Exploration  of  the  surrounding  Country. — The  Harvest  at  Tientsin. — Kitchen- 
gardens. — Salt-pans. — Vetch-fields. — Locust-hunting .  254 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Advantages  gained  by  Russia  and  America. — A  serious  “Hitch.” — The  two  im¬ 
portant  Demands. — The  Right  of  a  Resident  Minister. — The  Chinese  System  of 
Government:  Mode  of  influencing  it. — Principle  of  direct  Communication. — The 
Concession  gained. — The  final  Procession. — Signing  of  the  Treaty. — An  effective 
Illumination. — A  Retrospect. — The  new  Ports. — The  Transit-dues. — Climate  of 
Tientsin. — Absence  of  Surveys. — Geography  of  the  Country. — Abundance  of  Ice. 
— A  Skittle-alley. — Curiosity-hunting .  274 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Duplicity  of  the  Commissioners. — Arrival  of  the  Emperor’s  Assent. — Arrival  of  Re- 
enforcements. — Abandonment  of  Visit  to  Pekin. — Consequences  of  Delay. — State 
of  Matters  in  the  South. — Final  Visit  to  Commissioners. — Death  of  the  Prime  Min¬ 
ister  Yu. — Hwrashana’s  Poems. — “  Old”  Chang :  his  poetical  Effusions.. — Departure 
from  Tientsin. — The  Great  Wall. — State  of  Matters  in  the  South. — Appointment 
of  five  Commissioners. — Military  Government  of  Canton. — Lord  Elgin’s  Dispatch 
to  the  General. — Departure  for  Japan .  289 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

First  View  of  Japan. — Lovely  Scenery. — Singular  Boats. — Pappenberg. — Dungaree 
Forts. — Enchanting  Scenery. — A  philosophical  Port-guardian. — Visit  of  Japanese 


CONTENTS. 


Xl 


Officials. — Decima. — Removal  of  Restrictions. — Former  Imprisonment  of  Dutch. 
— A  smuggling  Skipper. — Dutch  Covetousness. — Strict  Rules. — Recent  Conces¬ 
sions. — Nagasaki. — Aspect  of  Houses. — Shops  at  Nagasaki. — The  Streets. — Plan 
of  the  City. — Janitors  of  Decima . Page  301 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

Missionary  Success  of  Xavier. — Supernatural  Gifts. — Heroism  of  Japanese  Converts. 
— Theological  Arguments  of  Converts :  their  Objections  to  eternal  Punishment. — 
Louis  Almeyda. — The  Prince  of  Omura. — His  Conversion. — Founding  of  Naga¬ 
saki. — Conversion  of  Princes. — Fate  of  Nagasaki. — Death  of  Sumitanda. — Con¬ 
stitution  of  the  Japanese  Government. — The  two  Emperors. — Taiko-sama. — Per¬ 
secution  of  Christians. — Projects  of  Taiko-sama :  his  Invasion  of  the  Corea. — Na¬ 
gasaki  annexed  by  the  Ziogoon. — William  Adams. — British  Factory  in  Japan. — 
Japanese  political  Economists. — Intrigues  of  the  Dutch. — Expulsion  of  the  Portu¬ 
guese. — Establishment  of  Decima .  314 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Surfeit  of  Sensations. — The  Dutch  and  Russian  Bazars. — Money-changers. — Tempt¬ 
ing  Investments. — Visit  from  the  Vice-governor. — A  Riding-school. — Surround¬ 
ing  Country. — A  Visit  to  a  Tea-garden. — Feasting  and  Music. — Productions  of 
Fizen. — Coal  Mines. — Prince  of  Satsuma. — Japanese  Classes  at  Nagasaki. — Mil¬ 
itary  Organization. — A  Gale  of  Wind. — Volcanic  Eruptions. — Places  of  future 
Punishment. — A  stormy  Night. — Arrival  at  Simoda. — Dangerous  Harbor....  331 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Residence  of  the  American  Consul. — A  Hermitage. — Visit  to  the  American  Consul. 
— His  recent  Success  at  Yedo. — Bazar  at  Simoda. — Torturing  Indecision. — A  Jap¬ 
anese  Grave-yard. — Buddhist  Temples. — The  Sintoo  Religion. — Household  Gods. 
— A  Japanese  Temple. — Doctrines  of  the  Sintoos. — Theological  Speculations. — 
The  Value  of  Sintooism. — A  Visit  from  the  Governor. — An  expensive  Form  of 
Politeness. — General  Appearance  of  Simoda. — Voyage  up  the  Bay  of  Yedo. — Jap¬ 
anese  Cottages. — Kanagawa. — Approach  to  Yedo .  344 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

Official  Visitors. — We  shift  our  Anchorage. — A  Visit  from  Princes. — Object  of  the 
Interview. — A  Japanese  Man-of-war. — Visit  to  the  Admiral. — Japanese  Junks. — 
Imperial  Uniform. — Inquisitive  Water-parties. — Moriyama. — Visit  of  the  Com¬ 
missioners. —  Landing-parties. —  The  Landing-place. — A  Japanese  Saddle. — The 
Procession  through  Yedo. — Excited  Crowds. — The  fair  Sex. — Disfigurement  of 
married  Women.  —  Japanese  Pleasure-parties.  —  Arrival  at  our  future  Resi¬ 
dence .  358 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

Residence  of  British  Mission. — Plan  of  our  House. — Soft  Matting. — Japanese  Spies. 
— Shingle  Roofs. —  The  Princes’  Quarter. — An  obstructive  Aristocracy. — Argu¬ 
ments  on  their  side. — Evils  of  Civilization. — Restrictions  on  the  Nobles. — Palaces 
of  the  Princes. — The  Citadel. — Panorama  of  Yedo. — An  imperial  Banquet. — A 
shopping  Expedition. — Fire-ladders. — We  are  mistaken  for  Chinese. — Bathing- 
houses. — Handsome  Lacker-ware. — A  Silk-mercer’s. — An  active  Police'. — Organ¬ 
ization  of  the  Police  Department. — Street  Dogs. — Wild  Deer .  374 


•  • 


CONTENTS. 


Xll 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Constitution  of  Government. — “Nayboen.” — The  Spy  Sj^stem.” — The  Council  of 
State. — A  political  Crisis. — The  “Happy  Dispatch.” — Ruining  a  Politician. — 
The  Japanese  social  Scale. — A  Visit  to  the  Citadel. — The  Japanese  Ministers. — 
Japanese  Flunkies. — Tea  and  Sweetmeats. — Shopping  in  Yedo. — Dog  Mania. — 
Official  Visit  of  Commissioners. — Official  Costume. — Ham  and  Champagne. — 
The  first  Day’s  Conference. — Jocosity  of  Higo-no-kami.  —  General  Good-hu¬ 
mor . Page  391 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

A  Riding-party. — Beauty  of  the  Suburbs. — A  pleasant  Tea-house.  Tea-gardens  at 
Hojee. — A  picturesque  Picnic. — Internal  Arrangements  of  a  Tea-house. — A  Bath¬ 
ing-room. — Scenery  of  the  Interior  of  Japan. — The  Botanical  Gardens. — A  Visit 
to  the  Prime  Ministers. — The  Commissioners  at  Luncheon. — “The  Scoundrel.” 
— Schools  at  Yedo. — Linguistic  Acquirements  of  the  Japanese.  System  of  na¬ 
tional  Education. — Japanese  Literature. — The  Postage  System. — The  Japanese 
Language:  its  Construction. — Universal  use  of  Paper. — Ingenuity  of  the  Jap¬ 
anese .  407 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

A  Japanese  Funeral. — Mode  of  dressing  Ladies’  Hair. — Excellence  of  Japanese  Steel. 
— Carvings  in  Ivory. — Musical  Instruments. — Japanese  War-fans. — An  Expedi¬ 
tion  into  the  Country. — A  Religious  Festival. — Elaborate  Tattooing. — The  Logos 
River. — The  Temple  of  Dai  Cheenara. — The  Interior  of  the  Temple. — A  singular 
Postscript. — Sumptuary  Laws. — Sinagawa. — Taxation  in  Japan. — The  Character 
of  the  Legislation. — Japanese  Management  of  Children. — Results  of  our  Experi¬ 
ence. — Japanese  Love  of  Pleasure. — Effect  of  Contact  with  Europeans .  426 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

Population  of  Yedo. — The  Nipon  Bas. — The  Quanon  Temple. — A  Fair. — An  Avi¬ 
ary. — A  singular  Tableau. — Theatrical  Representations. — Toy-shops. — Astronom¬ 
ical  System.— Mountain  Pilgrims.— Japanese  Wrestlers.— A  conjuring  Exhibi¬ 
tion. — The  Butterfly  Trick. — The  Commissioners  at  a  Dinner-party. — After-din¬ 
ner  Enthusiasm. — Presents  to  the  Mission. — Capacious  Dressing-gowns. — Last 
Night  in  Yedo .  442 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

Settling-day.— Japanese  Currency.— Gold  and  silver  Coins.— The  Currency  Diffi¬ 
culty.— Japanese  Packing.— Signing  of  the  Treaty.— Death  of  the  Tycoon  “Nay- 
boen.” — Probable  Cause  of  his  Death. — Profound  Secrecy  observed. — Evacuation 
of  our  Lodgings.— Presentation  of  the  Yacht.— Parting  Scenes .  455 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

Future  Prospects. — Civilization  of  Japan. — The  Effect  of  the  Treaty. — Dutch  Sub¬ 
serviency. — Interviews  of  the  Dutch  with  the  Tycoon. — Policy  to  be  pursued. — 
Necessity  of  mercantile  Morality. — Resources  of  Japan. — Commercial  Intercourse 
with  China. — Government  Interference. — Chow-chow  Cargoes. — Competition  with  . 
native  Manufactures. — Probable  Demand  for  woolen  Manufactures,  etc. — Vege¬ 
table  Products. — Japan  Wax. — Mineral  Resources. — Commercial  Prospects. — 


CONTENTS. 


Xlll 


Leave  Japan. — The  Port  of  Hiogo. — Ohosaka. — Kioto. — Caught  in  a  Typhoon. — 
Arrival  at  Shanghai . Page  4G3 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

Effects  of  the  Chinese  Climate. — The  Amenities  of  Shanghai. — Arrival  of  the  Im¬ 
perial  Commissioners. — Correspondence  relative  to  Canton. — Peace  Proclamation. 
— Appointment  of  Sub-commission. — Our  Chinese  Colleagues. — Daily  Confer¬ 
ences. — Rate  of  the  new  Tariff. — Transit  Duties. — Collection  of  foreign  Customs. 
— The  Opium-trade. — Mr.  Reed’s  Dispatch  on  Opium. — Reply  of  Lord  Elgin. — 
Final  Adjustment  of  the  Question. — Visit  of  the  Commissioners. — The  jovial  Ho. 
— A  Dinner  with  the  Commissioners. — The  resident  Minister  at  Pekin. — Pro¬ 
posed  Expedition  up  the  Yang-tse-kiang. — Signing  the  Trade  Regulations. — De¬ 
parture  from  Shanghai .  477 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

All  the  Ships  aground. — The  Delta  of  the  Yang-tse. — Channel-hunting. — The  Ki- 
ang-yin  Bluffs. — Aspect  of  the  River-banks. — Hard  and  fast. — Silver  Island. — 
Yang-chow. — A  Scene  of  Desolation. — Chinkiang. — Effects  of  Rebel  Occupation. 
— Golden  Island. — Magnificent  View. — Off  the  Rock. — Tan-too. — Translation  of 
Chinese  Names. — Chinese  Orthography. — Entrance  to  the  Grand  Canal. — Ab¬ 
sence  of  Junk  Traffic. — Approach  to  Nankin. — Action  with  the  Rebels  at  Nankin. 
— Its  Results .  491 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

Renewal  of  the  Action. — A  sharp  Bombardment. — The  Batteries  silenced. — An 
Action  between  Rebels  and  Imperialists. — Progress  up  Stream. — The  Rebels  re¬ 
ceive  a  Lesson. — We  land  for  Information. — Destitute  Peasantry. — Request  to  aid 
the  Rebels. — Notification  in  reply. — Enter  the  province  Ngan-Hwui. — A  military 
Procession. — The  Eastern  and  Western  Pillar  Gates. — Arrival  at  Woohoo. — A 
Letter  from  the  Rebel  Chief. — We  pay  him  a  Visit. — A  disorderly  Mob. — Varie¬ 
gated  Costumes. — An  imperialist  Spy. — Former  Condition  of  Woohoo. — Its  pres¬ 
ent  State. — A  Tai-ping  Manifesto .  505 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

A  Battle  between  Rebels  and  Imperialists. — An  Exodus  of  the  Population. — Arrival 
at  Ivew-hsien. — The  Rebel  Position. — Rebel  Tactics. — Deserted  State  of  the  Coun¬ 
try. —  Tee-kiang. —  Fine  Scenery. — Recent  Rebel  Fortifications.  —  A  wild-boar 
Hunt. — Description  of  the  Country. — Our  Pilot. — Cultivation. — Mandarin  Visit¬ 
ors. — Character  of  the  River-banks. — The  Imperialist  Fleet. — A  Visit  to  the  Com¬ 
modore. — The  Legend  of  the  Hen  Barrier. — Approach  to  Ngan-king. — We  en¬ 
gage  the  Forts. — Attack  of  the  Imperialist  Troops. — The  eight-storied  Pagoda. — 
Tactics  of  the  Imperialists. — Their  Treatment  of  the  Peasantry. — Toong-lew  525 

CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

A  foraging  Expedition. — Our  Pilot  romances. — Grandeur  of  the  Scenery. — The 
“Little  Orphan  Rock.” — A  windy  Locality. — Entrance  to  the  Poyang  Lake. — 
Legend  of  the  “Orphan  Rocks.” — Floods  of  the  Yang-tse. — Method  of  accounting 
for  them. — Rural  Statistics. — Appearance  of  the  Women. — Geographical  Features 
of  the  Country. — The  Valley  of  the  Yang-tse. — Kew-kiang. — A  Survey  of  its  Re¬ 
sources. — Villages  on  the  Banks. — Magnificent  Scenery. — Depredations  of  the 


XIV 


CONTENTS. 


Nee-fei.  —  We  land  at  Hwang-shih-kang. — Its  commercial  Activity. — White 
Tortoise  Island.  —  Enter  the  Province  of  Hoopeh. — The  Philosopher  Laoutz’. 
—  The  “White  Tiger  Mills.” — An  unsatisfactory  Dialogue.  — Approach  Han¬ 
kow . Page  541 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

First  Impressions  of  Han-kow. — Its  Resemblance  to  Nijni  Novgorod. — Our  first 
Landing. — An  orderly  Crowd. — Plan  of  Han-kow. — View  of  Wo-chang  and  Han¬ 
yang. — Population  of  these  Cities. — Manufacture  of  Bamboo  Cables. — Price  of 
Manchester  Cottons. — Insect-wax. — The  Mode  of  its  Production. — Recent  Demo¬ 
lition  of  Han-kow. — Its  mixed  Population. — Mandarinic  Diplomacy. — Commer¬ 
cial  Investigations. — Difficulty  of  obtaining  Information. — A  Dialogue. — Com¬ 
merce  of  Han-kow. — The  Tea-producing  Districts. — A  Visit  to  Han-yang. — State¬ 
ments  of  Pere  Hue .  558 

CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

First  Appearance  of  Strangers. — Snipe-shooting  near  Han-kow. — A  Visit  to  the 
Governor  General. — External  Aspect  of  Wo-chang. — Reception  by  the  Governor 
General. — A  magnificent  Repast. — The  return  Visit. — A  brilliant  Scene. — Inspec¬ 
tion  of  Midshipmen.— The  Brave  Army. — Their  singular  Uniform. — Panoramic 
View  of  Wo-chang. — Reasons  for  our  Return. — Subsidence  of  the  River. — A 
“Squeeze.” — Civility  of  the  rural  Population. — The  Lee  in  Trouble. — Lime- 
quarries. — Wild  Scenery. — DeepWater . . .  572 

CHAPTER  XL. 

Exploration  of  a  Lake. — An  educated  Peasant. — Charging  the  Bar. — Intricate  Navi¬ 
gation. — Good  Sport. — We  abandon  the  Furious. — Christmas-day. — Close  Stow¬ 
age  in  the  Lee. — Approach  Ngan-king. — Mr.  Wade’s  Visit  to  the  Rebels. — His 
Report  of  it. — Arrival  at  Woohoo. — A  Rebel  Communication. — We  land  at  Nan¬ 
kin. — A  Visit  to  a  Rebel  Chief. — Report  of  the  Interview. — Our  Interview  with 
Le. — The  real  State  of  the  Case. — Morals  of  the  Rebels. — Strength  of  the  Garri¬ 
son. — The  Rebel  Theology . . .  585 

CHAPTER  XLI. 

The  Yang-tse-Kiang  commercially  considered. — Sensation  on  our  Arrival. — Sudden 
Appearance  of  the  Furious. — The  secret  Edict. — Correspondence  with  the  Commis¬ 
sioners. — The  Affairs  of  Canton. — Result  of  the  Correspondence. — Decree  publish¬ 
ed  in  the  “Pekin  Gazette.” — Departure  from  Shanghai. — Military  Promenades 
near  Canton. — Expedition  to  Fayune. — A  Voyage  to  Hainan. — Adieu  to  China. — 


Arrival  at  Malta .  COO 

APPENDIX. 

I.  Treaty  of  Tientsin .  611 

II.  Correspondence  relative  to  a  resident  Minister  at  Pekin  .  622 

III.  The  Treaty  of  Yedo .  630 

IV.  Trade  Returns  between  Shanghai  and  Japan .  635 

V.  List  of  Articles  generally  sold,  and  of  Staples  found  in  the  Shops  at  Han¬ 
kow,  when  visited  by  H.  M.’s  Steam-ship  “Furious,”  Dec.,  1858 .  637 

VI.  Note  on  Prostitution .  638 

VII.  Thermometrical  Register  kept  by  Dr.  Saunders,  R.N.,  from  April  1,  1858, 

to  March  31,  1859 .  640 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

A  Winter  Scene  in  Japan  ( from  a  Native  Drawing') . Frontispiece. 

Scene  on  the  Tubrao  Eiver  (Malay  Peninsula) .  35 

Native  House  at  Johore  (Malay  Peninsula) .  38 

Malay  Sampan .  40 

Macao  Fort  (Canton  Eiver) .  47 

Mestizoes . . .  62 

Five-storied  Pagoda .  99 

The  Woosung  Eiver .  133 

Canal  Scene  near  Soo-chow .  146 

Ningpo  Eiver .  151 

Tseen-chang-yen  Waterfall .  156 

Sewe-kang-ha  Waterfall .  158 

Our  Bamboo  Eafts .  161 

The  Temple  of  Kwang-yin,  Pootoo .  165 

Bonze  at  Pootoo . *. .  166 

Bonze  Praying .  168 

Capture  of  the  Peiho  Forts .  203 

Eeception-Tent  of  the  Imperial  Commissioners,  Takoo .  206 

The  “Temple  of  the  Sea-god”  (Eesidence  of  Tan  at  Takoo) .  212 

A  Bedroom  at  Tientsin .  224 

Sedan  Chair .  230 

Kweiliang,  First  Imperial  Commissioner  {from  a  Photograph) .  234 

Hwashana,  Second  Imperial  Commissioner  ( from  a  Photograph ) .  235 

Signing  of  the  Treaty  of  Tientsin .  280 

The  Island  of  Pappenberg .  303 

Spire  of  a  Japanese  Temple  ( from  a  Native  Drawing) .  350 

A  Japanese  Village  ( from  a  Native  Draiving) .  355 

Yedo  Forts . . .  362 

A  Junk  in  the  Bay  of  Yedo  (from  a  Native  Drawing) .  364 

The  Landing-place,  Yedo .  368 

A  Japanese  Horse-shoe  and  Saddle .  369 

Japanese  Ladies  and  Children  (from  a  Native  Drawing) .  372 

Japanese  Sandal .  375 

Plasterers  at  Work  ( from  a  Native  Drawing) .  377 

A  Fire-ladder  (from  a  Native  Drawing) .  384 

Pattern-designer  ( from  a  Native  Drawing) .  387 

A  Street  in  the  Aristocratic  Quarter  of  Yedo  ( from  a  Native  Drawing) .  389 

Interview  between  the  Earl  of  Elgin  and  the  Prime  Ministers  of  Japan .  397 

A  Japanese  Wig .  402 

Exchange  of  full  Powers  between  the  Earl  of  Elgin  and  the  Japanese  Commis¬ 
sioners . . .  404 


/ 


xvi 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Tea-gardens  near  Yedo  . . 

Tea-gardens,  Interior . 

Japanese  Bath . 

Coopers  at  Work  ( from  a  Native  Drawing) 
Group  of  Horses  ( from  a  Native  Drawing ). 
Japanese  Artist  ( from  a  Native  Drawing )  . 

Japanese  Funeral . 

Group  from  an  Ivory  Carving  . . 

Japanese  Pipe,  Gase,  and  Pouch . 

A  Samsie  or  Lute . 


PAGE 

410 

414 

415 

421 

422 
425 
427 

430 
481 

431 


A  Japanese  Divinity  {from  a  Native  Drawing ) .  435 

Japanese  Gymnastics  {from  a  Native  Drawing') .  443 

Astronomers  {from  a  Native  Drawing) .  447 

Pilgrims  ascending  a  Mountain  {from  a  Native  Drawing) .  448 

Japanese  Wrestlers  {from  a  Native  Drawing) .  450 

Travelers  in  a  Snow-storm  {from  a  Native  Drawing) .  454 

Sieh,  late  Taoutai  of  Shanghai  {from  a  Photograph) .  481 

The  Seaou-koo-shan  (Yang-tse-Kiang) .  543 

The  Entrance  to  the  Poyang  Lake .  545 

View  of  Wo-chang .  561 


Kwan,  Governor  General  of  Hoo-Kwang,  with  his  Suite  {from  a  Photograph)...  577 


# 


NARRATIVE 

OP 

LORD  ELGIN’S  MISSION 

TO 

CHINA  AND  JAPAN. 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  Origin  of  the  War. — The  “Arrow  Case.” — Policy  of  Sir  John  Bowring. — Hos¬ 
tilities  at  Canton. — Right  of  Entry  into  the  City. — Bombardment  of  Yeh’s  Yamun. 
— The  Results. — Insult  to  American  Flag. — Destruction  of  the  Factories. — Aban¬ 
donment  of  the  Factory  Position. — Position  of  Affairs  in  February,  1857. — Effect 
of  the  foregoing  Operations. 

The  earlier  incidents  of  the  political  rupture  with  the  Chinese 
Commissioner  Yeh,  which  occurred  at  Canton  during  the  autumn 
of  1856,  and  which  led  to  the  appointment  of  a  special  mission  to 
China  for  the  purpose  of  settling  existing  differences,  and,  if  pos¬ 
sible,  of  placing  our  relations  with  that  empire  upon  a  new  and 
enlarged  basis,  were  too  thoroughly  canvassed  at  the  time  to  ren¬ 
der  it  necessary  to  renew  here  any  discussion  on  their  merits,  or 
recall  at  length  their  details.  As  the  “  Arrow  case”  derived  its 
interest,  then,  from  the  debates  to  which  it  gave  rise,  and  its  ef¬ 
fects  on  parties  at  home,  rather  than  from  any  intrinsic  value  of 
its  own,  so  does  it  now  mainly  owe  its  importance  to  the  accident¬ 
al  circumstance  that  it  was  the  remote  and  insignificant  cause 
which  led  to  a  total  revolution  in  the  foreign  policy  of  the  Celes¬ 
tial  Empire,  and  to  the  demolition  of  most  of  those  barriers  which, 
while  they  were  designed  to  restrict  all  intercourse  from  without, 
furnished  the  nations  of  the  West  with  fruitful  sources  of  quarrel 
and  perpetual  grievances. 


B 


18 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  WAR.— THE  “ARROW  CASE.” 


But  though,  in  this  particular  instance,  the  “  alleged  insult”  it¬ 
self  claims  but  a  brief  notice,  and  that  merely  as  a  matter  of  his¬ 
tory,  the  steps  taken  by  our  diplomatic  and  naval  authorities  on 
the  spot  to  redress  it  are  worthy  of  a  fuller  consideration,  because 
there  can  be  little  doubt  that  it  was  in  consequence  of  the  re¬ 
sults  which  these  entailed,  coupled  with  other  causes  which  will 
be  hereafter  mentioned,  that  Lord  Elgin  was  compelled  to  adopt 
a  line  of  policy  not  altogether  in  accordance  with  his  original  in¬ 
structions,  as  defined  in  the  House  of  Commons  by  Lord  Palmer¬ 
ston  during  the  session  of  1857.  That  this  may  be  the  more 
clearly  apprehended,  and  a  correct  estimate  formed  of  the  embar¬ 
rassing  nature  of  the  difficulties  with  which  the  high  commission¬ 
er  found  himself  surrounded  at  the  outset,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
narrate  briefly  the  course  of  events  which  occurred  in  the  Canton 
River  previous  to  his  arrival.  Their  consideration  will  enable  us 
at  once  to  perceive  how  humiliating  was  the  attitude  we  were  oc¬ 
cupying  in  the  eyes  of  the  Chinese,  and  more  especially  of  the 
Cantonese — how  grave  the  inj  ury  which  our  national  prestige  was 
suffering  in  consequence,  and  how  inconvenient  were  the  compli¬ 
cations  arising  out  of  the  anomalous  position  in  which  Great  Brit¬ 
ain  found  herself  placed  with  reference  to  other  nations. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  on  the  8th  of  October,  1856,  a  party 
of  Chinese  executives,  in  charge  of  an  officer,  boarded  the  lorcha 
Arrow,  a  vessel  registered  under  an  ordinance  passed  at  Hong 
Kong  eighteen  months  before,  tore  down  the  flag,  and  carried 
away  the  Chinese  crew,  refusing  to  listen  either  to  the  remon¬ 
strances  of  the  master  or  of  the  consul,  and  insisting  that  the  ves¬ 
sel  was  not  British,  but  Chinese.  Her  papers  were  at  the  time  in 
the  consulate,  but  her  register  had  expired  more  than  a  month 
before.  Still  Mr.  Parkes  maintained  that  she  was  entitled  to  pro¬ 
tection  under  clause  10  of  the  ordinance,  she  not  having  been  in 
the  waters  of  the  colony  since  the  date  of  the  expiry  of  the  regis¬ 
ter.  Mr.  Parkes  at  once  wrote  to  the  imperial  commissioner  Yeh, 
complaining  of  the  outrage,  and  offering  to  investigate  any  charge 
that  might  be  brought  against  the  persons  seized.  He  also  ac¬ 
quainted  Sir  J.  Bowring  and  Commodore  Elliot,  the  senior  naval 
officer  at  hand,  with  the  particulars  of  the  circumstance.  In  the 
correspondence  that  ensued,  Yeh  refused  to  admit  to  Mr.  Parkes 
that  the  lorcha  was  British,  and  maintained  that  some  of  the  crew 
were  pirates.  He  offered  to  return  nine  men.  Mr.  Parkes,  how- 


POLICY  OF  SIR  JOHN  BOWRING- 


19 


ever,  was  instructed  to  demand  an  apology  in  writing  from  Yeh — 
the  return  of  the  Chinese  arrested  to  their  ship — and  their  deliv¬ 
ery  to  the  authorities,  if  delivered,  by  and  through  the  consul. 
Yeh  persisted,  in  his  reply,  that  the  lorcha  was  not  foreign  prop¬ 
erty,  had  no  flag  flying,  promised  that  Chinese  officers  should  not 
seize  foreign  lorchas,  and  urged  that  foreigners  should  not  sell 
registers  to  Chinese  subjects  building  vessels.  Meantime  Sir  John 
Bowring  had  threatened  the  commissioner  with  an  application  to 
the  naval  authorities;  and  a  junk,  supposed  to  be  an  imperial 
junk,  but  afterward  found  to  be  a  merchant  vessel,  was  seized  by 
way  of  reprisal,  and  released.  On  the  15th  of  October  Mr.  Parkes 
informed  Yeh  of  this  seizure,  also  that  a  naval  force  was  at  the 
Barrier  Forts.  On  the  21st  inst.,  Mr.  Parkes,  under  instructions, 
advised  Yeh  that,  unless  the  requisition  made  was  complied  with 
within  twenty -four  hours,  ulterior  measures  would  be  adopted. 

In  consequence  of  this  threat,  an  hour  before  the  expiry  of  the 
term,  the  twelve  men  were  sent  to  the  consulate,  but  without  an 
officer  of  rank,  or  any  letter  of  apology.  Mr.  Parkes  wrote  again 
to  Yeh.  Nothing  resulting,  he  circulated  among  the  foreign  com¬ 
munity  the  letter  containing  the  ultimatum  of  the  21st.  The  same 
day  Yeh  had  written,  repeating  his  former  arguments,  and  remon¬ 
strating  against  the  seizure  of  the  merchant  junk.  On  the  22d 
Mr.  Parkes  replied  to  this  as  before,  and  in  the  evening  warned 
the  community  by  circular  that  the  question  was  now  in  the  hands 
of  her  majesty’s  senior  naval  officer.  Correspondence  to  the  same 
effect  passed  between  Yeh  and  Sir  John  Bowring.  It  had  in  the 
mean  time  been  decided  by  Sir  John  Bowring,  in  consultation  with 
Admiral  Seymour,  that  “the  most  judicious  measure  of  compul¬ 
sion”  to  be  adopted  would  be  “the  seizure  of  the  defenses  of  the 
city  of  Canton.”  In  pursuance  of  this  policy,  on  the  23d  of  Oc¬ 
tober  Admiral  Seymour  took  possession  of  the  four  Barrier  Forts, 
Blenheim  Fort,  and  Macao  Fort,  without  loss,  and  scarce  a  sem¬ 
blance  of  resistance,  and,  through  the  consul,  advised  Yeh  of  his 
arrival  and  intention  to  continue  hostile  proceedings  against  the 
defenses,  public  buildings,  and  government  vessels,  until  repara¬ 
tion  should  be  made  for  the  wrong  done.  “His  excellency’s  re¬ 
ply,”  says  the  admiral,  “  was  very  unsatisfactory.”  On  the  fol¬ 
lowing  day  the  Bird’s  Nest  and  Shameen  forts  were  taken,  with¬ 
out  any  attempt  at  opposition ;  and  preparations  were  made  for 
the  defense  of  the  factories,  which  were  garrisoned ;  a  body  of 


20 


HOSTILITIES  AT  CANTON. 


American  officers,  seamen,  and  marines  provided  for  the  interests 
of  the  American  community. 

On  the  25th  the  island^  and  fort  of  Dutch  Folly  were  taken,  and 
occupied  without  opposition.  This  act  completed  the  series  of 
operations,  upon  the  efficacy  of  which  the  civil  and  military  au¬ 
thorities  had,  to  all  appearance,  confidently  relied ;  but  the  result 
was  as  far  from  being  attained  as  ever.  The  admiral  writes: 
“14 th  November ,  1856.  All  defense  of  the  city  being  now  in  our 
hands,  I  considered  the  high  commissioner  would  see  the  neces¬ 
sity  of  submission ;  and  I  directed  Mr.  Parkes  to  write  and  state 
that,  when  his  excellency  should  be  prepared  to  arrange  the  points 
in  dispute  in  a  satisfactory  manner,  I  would  desist  from  farther 
operations ;  but  the  reply  did  not  answer  my  expectations.”  So 
far  from  any  thing  like  submission,  it  appears  that  “  an  attack  was 
made  at  12.30  by  a  body  of  troops,  supported  by  a  much  larger 
force,  which  occupied  the  streets  in  rear.  Mr.  Consul  Parkes  was 
on  the  spot  at  the  time,  and  warned  them  to  retire,  but  ineffectu¬ 
ally.  The  guard  of  royal  marines,  in  charge  of  Captain  Penrose, 
then  drove  them  back,  with  a  loss,  as  we  understand,  of  fourteen 
killed  and  wounded.”  The  next  day  Yeh  closed  the  Chinese 
Custom-house. 

Such  were  the  steps  taken,  and  violent  measures  resorted  to,  in 
the  vain  attempt  to  induce  the  imperial  commissioner  to  make  the 
amende  honorable .  His  power  to  resist  even  this  trifling  demand 
was  now  proved  beyond  a  doubt.  Our  inability  to  enforce  it  had 
been  no  less  unmistakably  manifested ;  nevertheless,  another  let¬ 
ter  to  Yeh  was  dispatched  on  the  27th  by  the  admiral,  who  thus 
alludes  to  it:  “I  concurred  in  opinion  with  Sir  John  Bowring 
that  this  was  a  fitting  opportunity  for  requiring  the  fulfillment 
of  long-evaded  treaty  obligations,  and  I  therefore,  in  addition  to 
the  original  demands,  instructed  Mr.  Parkes  to  make  the  following 
communication.”  These  additional  demands  involved  the  right 
for  all  foreign  representatives  of  free  access  to  the  authorities  and 
city  of  Canton.  Hitherto  the  point  at  issue  had  been  one  simply 
of  principle,  and  turned  upon  the  right  of  the  Chinese  govern¬ 
ment  to  seize  a  lorcha  under  certain  conditions.  It  is  just  possi¬ 
ble  that  even  this  stubborn  functionary  may  have  had  his  doubts 
on  the  subject,  and  been  disposed  to  purchase  peace  and  quietness 
at  the  price  of  so  immaterial  a  concession.  But  now  any  moment¬ 
ary  weakness,  if  it  ever  existed,  was  passed  forever.  A  grave 


BOMBARDMENT  OF  YEH’S  YAMUN. 


21 


question  of  policy  had  been  raised — an  old  and  much-vexed  one, 
in  the  successful  battling  of  which  his  predecessors  had  covered 
themselves  with  glory.  Moreover,  this  sudden  change  of  issue 
rouses  the  whole  suspicious  nature  of  the  Chinaman,  and  he  draws 
an  inference  somewhat  discreditable  to  us,  but  not  to  be  wondered 
at,  which  he  thus  expresses  in  a  proclamation  issued  to  the  Can¬ 
tonese  : 

“Whereas  the  English  barbarians  have  commenced  disturb¬ 
ances  on  a  false  pretense,  their  real  object  being  admission  into 
the  city,  the  governor  general,  referring  to  the  unanimous  ex¬ 
pression  of  objection  to  this  measure  on  the  part  of  the  entire 
population  of  Canton  in  1849,  has  flatly  refused  to  concede  this, 
and  is  determined  not  to  grant  their  request,  let  them  carry  their 
feats  and  machinations  to  what  length  they  will.”  Whereupon 
Yeh  intrenches  himself  behind  a  triple  mail  of  mandarinic  pride 
and  obstinacy,  and  retreats  into  the  innermost  recesses  of  his  of¬ 
ficial  dignity,  from  which  we  dug  him  out  some  fourteen  months 
after.  Meantime  he  does  not  condescend  to  answer  the  last  letter, 
so  at  1  P.M.  his  residence  is  bombarded.  “  The  first  shot  was 
fired  from  the  10-inch  pivot  gun  of  the  Encounter,  and,  at  inter¬ 
vals  of  from  five  to  ten  minutes,  the  fire  was  kept  up  from  that 
gun  till  sunset.  The  Barracouta,  at  the  same  time,  shelled  the 
troops  on  the  hills  behind  Gough’s  Fort,  in  the  rear  of  the  city, 
from  a  position  she  had  taken  up  in  rear  of  Sulphur  Creek.” 
Under  these  circumstances,  Yeh  offered  a  reward  of  thirty  dollars 
for  the  head  of  every  Englishman. 

The  afternoon  of  the  following  day,  from  noon  to  sunset,  was 
occupied  in  firing  at  slow  time  upon  the  houses  opposite  Dutch 
Folly,  the  inhabitants  having  been  warned  to  evacuate  them. 
The  yamun  of  the  imperial  commissioner  was  distant  about  150 
yards  from  the  river  bank.  By  the  afternoon  of  the  29  th  a  breach 
had  been  effected  to  this  spot,  which  was  visited  by  the  admiral 
with  a  force  of  marines  and  blue-jackets.  The  Chinese  offered 
some  resistance,  killing  three  and  wounding  eleven  of  our  men. 
For  the  three  following  days  desultory  firing  was  kept  up  on  the 
town,  and  much  of  the  suburb  was  destroyed  bv  fire,  but  not  in¬ 
tentionally.  On  the  1st  of  November  the  admiral  again  addresses 
Yeh,  who  answers,  defending  himself,  without  receding.  He  was 
nevertheless  responded  to  by  the  admiral,  and  rejoined,  in  a  letter, 
“  recapitulating  his  former  correspondence.” 


22 


INSULT  TO  AMERICAN  ELAG. 


The  admiral  accordingly  recommences  operations,  pulls  down 
some  Chinese  houses  to  secure  the  factory  position,  and  bombards 
the  public  buildings  steadily,  but  slowly,  for  several  days  consec¬ 
utively,  during  which  French  Folly  is  taken,  and  twenty -three 
war-junks  are  destroyed  by  the  Barracouta,  with  a  loss  of  one 
killed  and  four  wounded.  Another  communication  is  also  made 
to  the  commissioner,  wTho  seems  to  gain  confidence  from  the  fre¬ 
quency  of  these  missives,  for  he  answers  curtly,  and  enters  upon 
a  vigorous  course  of  retaliatory  measures.  *  Having  neither  armies 
or  fleets  to  cope  with  ours,  he  makes  war  upon  us  in  a  desultory, 
irregular  way,  eminently  harassing.  Our  ships  in  the  river  nar¬ 
rowly  escape  destruction  from  fire-rafts:  night-attacks  are  made 
upon  them ;  passenger  steamers  are  fired  upon,  and  foreign  ves¬ 
sels,  indiscriminately.  An  incidental  result  is  an  insult  to  the 
American  flag,  which  is  fired  on  from  the  Barrier  Forts,  which 
had  been  re-armed.  As  a  measure  of  retaliation,  these  are  taken 
and  destroyed  by  Commodore  Armstrong,  of  the  United  States 
Navy.  Flere  the  matter  ends.  Dr.  Parker  thinks  the  insult  of¬ 
fered  to  the  flag  has  been  sufficiently  avenged,  and  shortly  after¬ 
ward  resumes  correspondence  with  Yeh.  The  episode  is  interest¬ 
ing,  as  furnishing  a  contrast  between  our  policy  and  that  of  the 
United  States,  under  somewhat  similar  circumstances. 

Meantime  we  demolish  some  of  the  Bogue  Forts,  and  Howqua 
and  other  Canton  notables  address,  and  are  answered  by,  Sir  John 
Bowring  and  Admiral  Seymour.  On  the  17th  Sir  John  Bowring 
arrives  at  Canton,  and  puts  himself  into  communication  with  the 
imperial  commissioner  on  the  18th.  The  admiral  (24th  of  No¬ 
vember,  1856)  states  that  he  u  reopened  fire  on  the  government 
buildings  in  the  Tartar  City  from  the  guns  in  the  Dutch  Folly, 
but  ceased  at  noon,  to  allow  time  for  a  reply  to  a  note  sent  in  by 
Sir  John  Bowring,  proposing  an  interview  with  the  high  commis¬ 
sioner  in  the  city ;  and  his  excellency  added  that,  if  it  was  grant¬ 
ed,  he  was  prepared  to  request  me  to  cease  hostilities.  The  reply 
was  received  the  next  day,  declining  the  interview.”  The  re¬ 
ward  for  barbarian  heads  was  now  raised  from  thirty  to  one  hund¬ 
red  taels.  On  the  22 d  the  French  flag  was  struck  at  Canton. 

On  the  4th  of  December,  French  Folly,  having  been  reoccupied 
and  strengthened  by  the  Chinese,  was  retaken,  with  a  loss  of  two 
killed  and  several  wounded.  On  the  following  day  a  seaman  and 
marine  are  cut  off.  A  few  shells  are  still  occasionally  thrown 


RETREAT  FROM  THE  FACTORY  POSITION. 


23 


into  the  city,  and,  on  the  14th,  the  admiral  states  that  he  “feels  a 
confident  hope  that  the  measures  which  have  been  taken  will 
prove  successful.”  The  next  day  Chinese  incendiaries  burn  down 
the  whole  of  the  foreign  factories.  The  admiral  writes  (29th  of 
December,  1856) :  “  The  great  importance  of  holding  our  position 
at  Canton  being  evident,  and  the  church  and  barracks  having 
been  preserved,  I  determined  to  intrench  a  portion  of  the  factory 
gardens.”  On  the  17th  the  admiral  commences  to  intrench  him¬ 
self  accordingly,  and  garrisons  the  fortified  position  with  a  force 
of  three  hundred  men. 

Encouraged  by  this  success,  Yeh  carries  on  the  war,  in  his  own 
peculiar  fashion,  with  greater  vigor  than  ever.  On  the  23d  Mr. 
Cowper  is  kidnapped  from  Whampoa.  On  the  30th  the  Thistle 
postal  steamer  is  seized  by  the  Chinese  on  board ;  eleven  persons 
murdered,  and  their  heads  carried  off.  The  Chinese  gentry  of  the 
district  opposite  Hong  Kong  interdict  supplies  being  furnished 
to  the  colony.  The  magistrate  of  another  district  orders  the  serv¬ 
ants  to  withdraw  from  foreign  employ.  Placards  are  issued  in¬ 
terdicting  trade,  and  promising  rewards  for  heads.  On  the  4th 
of  January  the  Chinese  attack  the  ships  about  Macao  Fort  in 
force,  and  sink  junks  in  one  of  the  neighboring  passages;  also 
nearly  succeed  in  blowing  up  one  of  our  ships  with  explosive 
machines.  On  the  12th,  our  position  in  the  factory  gardens  hav¬ 
ing  been  threatened,  we  burn  the  suburbs  right  and  left  of  the 
factory  site.  During  this  operation,  a  party  of  the  59th,  approach¬ 
ing  the  city-wall,  is  repulsed  with  loss.  The  admiral  (14th  of 
January,  1857)  at  once  decides  upon  retreating  from  his  position 
in  the  factory  gardens  and  Dutch  Folly,  and,  falling  back  upon 
Bird’s-nest  Fort  and  Macao  Fort,  applies  to  his  excellency  the  Gov¬ 
ernor  General  of  India  for  the  assistance  of  5000  troops.  He  sub¬ 
sequently  finds  himself  compelled  to  abandon  Bird’s-nest  Fort 
(30th  of  January,  1857),  which  he  had  intended  to  hold  as  his 
advanced  post,  and,  withdrawing  the  garrison  he  had  placed 
there,  retains  only  Macao  Fort.  It  was  even  at  one  time  in  con¬ 
templation  to  evacuate  the  river  entirely,  and  this  was  a  course 
strongly  urged  upon  the  admiral  by  some  of  his  advisers.  For¬ 
tunately,  however,  bolder  counsels  prevailed ;  and,  although  the 
Chinese  kept  up  a  series  of  pertinacious  and  harassing  attacks 
upon  our  garrison  in  Macao  Fort,  commanded  then  by  the  gallant 
but  lamented  Captain  Bate,  we  suffered  no  farther  reverses  at 


24 


POSITION  OF  AFFAIRS  IN  FEBRUARY,  1857. 


their  hands.  Meantime  an  attempt  had  just  been  made  to  poison 
the  whole  foreign  community  of  Hong  Kong. 

From  this  condensed  account,  some  idea  may  be  formed  of  the 
stage  which  war  and  diplomacy  had  reached  in  the  south  of  China 
at  the  beginning  of  February,  1857.  But  little  change  had  taken 
place  in  either  up  to  the  time  of  our  arrival  there,  about  four 
months  afterward.  The  diplomacy  remained  in  abeyance;  the 
war  was  apparently  being  kept  up  upon  very  much  the  same 
principles  on  which  it  had  been  begun.  The  Chinese  continued 
to  kidnap,  assassinate,  seize  steamers,  and  annoy  us  in  sundry  cun¬ 
ningly-devised  methods.  We  continued  to  hunt  them  down  in 
creeks,  burn  villages  where  outrages  had  been  committed,  and 
otherwise  pay  them  out  to  the  best  of  our  ability — not,  it  must  be 
confessed,  in  a  manner  calculated  to  increase  their  terror  for  our 
arms,  or  their  respect  for  our  civilization.  With  the  exception 
of  the  affair  in  the  Fatshan  Creek,  no  fighting  of  any  consequence 
occurred. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  perceive  how,  under  these  circumstances, 
every  month  that  passed  by  inspired  Yeh  with  fresh  confidence 
in  his  own  resources,  and,  inasmuch  as  we  never  made  a  move  in 
advance,  with  increased  contempt  for  ours.  Never  before  since 
the  abolition  of  the  old  monopoly  had  Englishmen  made  so  poor 
a  figure  in  the  eyes  of  the  Chinese  populace.  If  one  went  into  a 
curiosity  shop  at  Hong  Kong,  he  was  the  object  of  the  quiet  irony 
of  the  sleek  vendor  of  carved  ivory  behind  the  counter,  who  in¬ 
formed  him  that  his  choice  collection  was  at  Canton,  and  asked, 
“Why  you  no  can  come  my  shop  Canton?  alio  same  fore  tim: 
my  gotchie  too  muchee  olo  handser  culio  that  side.”  The  very 
urchins  in  the  street  considered  a  Briton  a  fit  subject  for  “chaff,” 
while  their  respectable  parents  took  a  mercenary  view  of  his  head. 
Hong  Kong  was  neither  a  safe  nor  agreeable  abode  in  those  days. 

It  was  too  late  then  to  consider  whether  the  Arrow  had  in  the 
first  instance  been  British  or  Chinese,  or  whether  the  claim  for 
redress  made  eight  months  previously  was  just  or  unjust;  nor 
did  it  seem  to  avail  now  to  discuss  the  wisdom  of  the  policy 
which  had  superadded  a  second  and  infinitely  more  obnoxious 
demand,  just  at  the  period  when  it  seemed  most  hopeless  that  we 
should  obtain  even  the  first.  It  was  small  consolation  to  be  told 
that  we  ought  never  to  have  abandoned  the  factory  position,  and 
that  a  little  sharp  cannonading,  instead  of  a  shot  every  ten  min- 


EFFECT  OF  THE  FOREGOING  OPERATIONS. 


25 


utes,  would  have  soon  brought  Yeh  to  bis  senses.  These  were 
professional  questions  on  which  it  would  have  been  presumptuous 
to  offer  an  opinion ;  but  there  was  one  conviction  arising  out  of 
it  all  which  irresistibly  impressed  itself  upon  the  mind  of  every 
new-comer,  and  which  was,  that  a  continuance  of  this  state  of 
matters  would  not  only  injure  our  colony,  impair  our  prestige, 
embarrass  us  in  our  relations  with  neutral  powers,  and  imperil 
our  commerce  at  all  the  other  ports  of  the  empire,  but  enhance 
materially  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  any  negotiations  which 
might  be  attempted  directly  with  the  court  of  Pekin.  It  could 
hardly  be  expected  or  hoped  that,  while  Yeh  was  waging  a  suc¬ 
cessful  war  with  us  in  the  Canton  Eiver,  we  could  be  treating 
upon  favorable  terms  in  the  Peiho. 

It  so  happened  that  other  causes  combined  to  give  increased 
weight  to  these  considerations :  these  will  come  to  be  noticed  in 
their  turn.  Meantime  I  have  thought  it  better,  at  the  outset,  to 
cast  this  brief  retrospective  glance  over  the  events  of  the  half  year 
preceding  our  arrival  in  China,  partly  in  the  hope  that  it  may 
enable  the  reader  to  form  some  idea  of  the  actual  posture  of  af¬ 
fairs  at  that  juncture,  and  partly  because  it  may  be  presumed  that 
the  insight  which  a  review  of  these  proceedings  afforded,  both  as 
to  the  character  of  the  people  with  whom  he  was  about  to  deal, 
and  the  nature  of  the  difficulties  against  which  he  would  have  to 
contend,  was  not  lost  upon  Lord  Elgin. 


26 


DEPARTURE  OF  THE  MISSION. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Appointment  and  Departure  of  special  Mission. — Outbreak  of  the  Mutiny  in  India. 
— Arrival  at  Singapore. — Its  Chinese  Population. — Causes  of  their  Discontent. — 
Their  Value  as  Colonists. — Trip  to  the  main  Land. — Residence  of  the  Tumangong. 
— Wild  Sports  of  the  Malay  Peninsula. — Gambier  Plantations. — Luxuriant  For¬ 
rest. — The  Village  of  Tubrao. — Depredations  of  Tigers. — Great  Increase  of  Culti¬ 
vation. — Start  on  a  Tiger-hunt. — Unsuccessful  Result. — Arrival  at  Johore. — Ma¬ 
lay  Houses  of  Johore. — Historical  Associations  of  Johore. — A  picturesque  Repast. 
— Return  to  Singapore. — Its  rapid  Progress. — Its  Future. 

In  consequence  of  the  unsatisfactory  progress  of  affairs  in  the 
south  of  China,  described  in  the  last  chapter,  that  country  was  fa¬ 
vored  with  a  larger  share  of  public  interest  in  England  during  the 
spring  of  1857  than  had  been  accorded  to  it  at  any  period  for  the 
last  fifteen  years.  An  expeditionary  force  of  5000  men,  with  a 
staff  equipment  calculated  for  a  much  larger  army,  and  in  every 
respect  thoroughly  complete,  was  on  its  way  to  the  probable  the¬ 
atre  of  war.  Generals  and  officers  of  high  rank  were  leaving 
town  by  each  successive  mail.  Hot  only  had  England  determ¬ 
ined  to  send  out  a  special  high  commissioner,  accredited  as  embas¬ 
sador  to  the  court  of  Pekin,  but  France,  Russia,  and  America  had 
each  declared  their  intention  of  improving  the  occasion,  and  dis¬ 
patching  plenipotentiaries  extraordinary  to  China.  Thus  every 
thing  conspired  to  induce  the  belief  that  the  attention  of  the  world 
was  about  to  be  concentrated  on  the  Celestial  Empire ;  and  it  was 
not  to  be  wondered  at  that,  though  not  present  in  London  draw¬ 
ing-rooms,  Yeh  did  in  fact  monopolize  the  honors  of  the  earlier 
part  of  the  season,  or  that  the  prospect  of  accompanying  a  special 
mission  to  the  scene  of  his  exploits,  and,  possibly,  to  the  throne 
of  his  imperial  master,  possessed  attractions  of  a  novel  and  strik¬ 
ing  character. 

More  fortunate  than  former  embassies,  we  were  saved  the  long 
sea-voyage,  which  must  have  had  a  tendency  to  damp  the  ardor 
of  exploration ;  and  being  consigned  instead  to  the  mercies  of  the 
Peninsular  and  Oriental  Company,  found  ourselves,  on  the  9th  of 
May,  1857,  rushing  across  the  desert  in  the  first  train  which  had 
ever  carried  passengers  to  the  central  station,  enveloped  in  clouds 


OUTBREAK  OF  THE  MUTINY  IN  INDIA.  27 

of  dust,  and  indulging  in  most  sanguine  anticipations  of  the  fu¬ 
ture.* 

How  little  could  we  imagine  that  a  storm  was  at  this  moment 
bursting  over  the  plains  of  Upper  India  which  should  rivet  upon 
itself  the  concentrated  and  anxious  gaze  of  the  world,  and  which, 
in  its  swift  and  relentless  course,  seemed  pregnant  with  conse¬ 
quences  so  disastrous  and  appalling,  that  all  minor  cares  of  state 
policy  faded  into  insignificance,  and  became  utterly  absorbed  in 
its  one  engrossing  interest,  just  as  passing  squalls  are  overwhelm¬ 
ed  and  smothered  in  the  impetuous  fury  of  a  typhoon. 

It  was  not  not  until  we  reached  Galle  that  we  received  from 
General  Ashburnham,  who  had  just  arrived  from  Bombay,  and 
was  on  his  way  to  the  commander-in-chief  in  China,  the  first  intel¬ 
ligence  of  the  serious  aspect  which  matters  had  assumed  in  the 
northwest  provinces  of  India,  and  of  the  spread  of  disaffection 
among  the  sepoy  troops.  Although  the  particulars  of  the  dread¬ 
ful  tragedy  which  had  taken  place  at  Delhi  and  Meerut  had  not 
yet  reached  us,  we  heard  enough  to  lead  us  to  anticipate  the 
probability  of  these  occurrences  affecting,  in  an  important  degree, 
the  prospects  of  the  mission  to  China. 

General  Ashburnham  and  his  staff  accompanied  us  to  Singa¬ 
pore,  whence  they  proceeded  to  China,  while  Lord  Elgin  disem¬ 
barked  here,  and  took  up  his  residence  with  the  governor,  to 
await  the  Shannon,  the  frigate  placed  by  the  government  at  Lord 
Elgin’s  disposal,  and  the  arrival  of  which  was  hourly  expected. 
The  importance  of  rendering  the  approach  of  an  envoy  invested 
with  such  extensive  powers  as  imposing  as  possible  in  the  eyes 
of  a  nation  notorious  for  attaching  the  highest  significance  to  ex¬ 
ternal  pomp  and  ceremony,  seemed  more  than  sufficient  to  justify 

*  The  special  mission  was  composed  as  follows  :  His  Excellency  the  Eavl  of  Elgin 
and  Kincardine,  K.T.,  High  Commissioner ;  the  Hon.  F.  W.  A.  Bruce,  Secretary  to 
the  Mission  ;  Messrs.  Donald  Cameron,  George  Fitz-Roy,  H.  B.  Loch,  and  R.  Morri¬ 
son,  Attaches  •  Mr.  Laurence  Oliphant,  Private  Secretary. 

On  the  arrival  of  the  mission  in  China,  Mr.  T.  F.  Wade  was  attached  as  Chinese 
secretary ;  and  in  August,  Dr.  M.  K.  Saunders,  R.N.,  was  attached  as  medical  at¬ 
tendant.  In  March,  1858,  Mr.  H.  N.  Lay  accompanied  the  mission  to  Tientsin  as 
assistant  Chinese  secretary  and  interpreter.  In  July  Mr.  Bruce  proceeded  to  En¬ 
gland  in  charge  of  the  treaty  of  Tientsin,  and  the  Hon.  N.  Jocelyn  arrived  to  replace 
Mr.  Cameron,  who  was  promoted  to  a  post  in  Europe.  Mr.  Morrison  also  returned 
to  England,  and  Mr.  Oliphant  succeeded  Mr.  Bruce  as  acting  secretary  to  the  mis¬ 
sion.  In  September  Mr.  Loch  went  home  on  sick  certificate,  having  also  charge  of 
the  Japanese  treaty. 


28 


SINGAPORE.— CHINESE  POPULATION. 


the  delay  of  three  weeks  which  was  thus  unavoidably  incurred. 
Nor,  under  the  circumstances,  was  the  time  misspent.  A  con¬ 
firmation  of  the  news  we  heard  at  Galle,  together  with  the  repre¬ 
sentations  of  Lord  Canning,  induced  Lord  Elgin  to  take  upon 
himself  the  serious  responsibility  of  diverting  from  their  destina¬ 
tion  the  first  installment  of  the  troops  which  soon  after  arrived 
at  Singapore  from  the  Mauritius  on  their  way  to  China. 

Other  circumstances  were  not  wanting  to  render  our  stay  at 
Singapore  full  of  interest  at  this  juncture,  and  these  were  closely 
connected  with  the  objects  of  the  mission.  A  few  weeks  had 
scarcely  elapsed  since  occurrences  had  taken  place  among  the 
Chinese  population  at  Penang,  Sarawak,  and  Singapore,  which, 
from  their  simultaneity  with  one  another,  and  with  the  treacher¬ 
ous  attempt  upon  the  lives  of  the  British  residents  at  Hong  Kong, 
induced  the  suspicion  of  an  extended  concerted  action — a  suspi¬ 
cion  which  seemed  to  have  amounted  to  certainty  in  the  minds 
of  the  great  majority  of  the  English  in  these  settlements,  in  whom 
a  knowledge  of  the  power  and  extent  of  the  organization  of  the 
Chinese  secret  societies  excited  a  not  unnatural  alarm,  and  whose 
minds  were  so  deeply  impressed,  by  old  association  and  prejudice, 
with  a  fear  of  the  cruelty  and  treachery  of  the  Chinese,  that  they 
were  apt  to  overlook  other  qualities  in  the  character  of  that  race 
which,  to  an  impartial  observer,  seemed  effectually  to  neutralize 
these  attributes. 

In  each  of  the  instances  above  alluded  to  local  causes  of  irrita¬ 
tion  existed,  apparently  sufficient  to  account  for  the  disturbances 
which  ensued,  without  connecting  them  with  the  disputes  at  Can¬ 
ton.  In  Borneo,  the  immediate  origin  of  the  outbreak  was  a  dif¬ 
ference  of  opinion  in  a  question  of  opium  smuggling  between  Sir 
James  Brooke  and  the  Chinese,  though  for  some  time  past  these 
people  had  manifested  an  independent  spirit,  and  a  disposition  to 
resist  the  laws  which  the  rajah — who  had  treated  them  perhaps 
with  too  much  kindness  and  indulgence — saw  fit  to  impose.  That 
their  animosity  was  confined  to  himself  and  his  executive  only, 
and  involved  no  general  principle  of  hostility  to  the  British,  was 
proved  by  the  fact  that  they  requested  the  bishop  to  assume  the 
reins  of  government.  In  the  Straits  settlement,  the  promulgation 
of  some  police  regulations  interfering  with  certain  of  their  relig¬ 
ious  ceremonies  and  festivals,  and  the  manner  in  which  these  were 
put  into  execution,  roused  their  indignation,  though  it  is  question- 


CAUSES  OF  THEIR  DISCONTENT.— VALUE  AS  COLONISTS.  29 

able  whether,  had  the  object  of  these  ever  been  explained  to  them, 
they  would  not  have  recognized  their  expediency. 

At  present  there  is  a  population  of  70,000  Chinamen  in  Singa¬ 
pore,  and  not  a  single  European  who  understands  their  language. 
The  consequence  is,  that,  in  the  absence  of  any  competent  inter¬ 
preter,  they  are  generally  ignorant  of  the  designs  of  government, 
and,  regarding  themselves  still  as  Chinese  subjects,  are  apt  to  place 
themselves  in  an  antagonistic  attitude  whenever  laws  are  passed 
affecting  their  peculiar  customs.  No  effort  is  made  to  overcome 
a  certain  exclusiveness  arising  hence ;  and  this  is  fostered  by  the 
secret  societies,  which  exercise  an  important  moral  influence  upon 
the  minds  of  all,  but  more  particularly  the  ignorant  portion  of 
the  population.  Were  Chinese  themselves  put  into  positions  of 
authority  under  government,  and  allowed  to  share  to  some  extent 
in  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  British  citizens,  which,  intel¬ 
lectually  speaking,  they  are  quite  competent  to  undertake,  the 
barrier  which  now  exists  between  the  two  races  would  be  partially 
removed,  and  the  mutual  distrust  and  suspicion  engendered  by 
our  present  system  would  in  all  probability  quickly  disappear. 
Nor  is  this  mere  speculation.  We  have  fortunately  in  their  own 
empire  a  perpetual  proof  before  our  eyes  of  that  reverence  for  au¬ 
thority  when  judiciously  enforced  which  is  one  of  their  chief  charac¬ 
teristics,  and  which  has  for  so  many  centuries  been  the  preserva¬ 
tion  of  its  union  and  one  great  source  of  its  prosperity. 

That  the  most  active,  industrious,  and  enterprising  race  in  the 
Eastern  world  should  be  regarded  as  a  source  of  weakness  rather 
than  of  strength  to  a  community,  implies,  prima  facie ,  a  certain  de¬ 
gree  of  mismanagement.  The  Chinese  who  have  been  attracted 
to  Singapore  by  its  freedom  from  commercial  restrictions,  and  ad¬ 
vantages  of  position,  have  contributed  to  make  it  what  it  is,  the 
most  prosperous  settlement  in  the  East ;  and  when  we  consider 
their  extraordinary  acquisitiveness  and  love  of  gain,  we  can  hard¬ 
ly  suppose  that  their  sympathies  with  their  brethren  in  China 
would  be  sufficiently  powerful  to  induce  them  wantonly  to  inter¬ 
rupt  a  commerce  from  which  they  derive  enormous  profits,  and 
destroy  a  mercantile  emporium  which  may  be  said  to  be  in  a 
great  degree  their  own  handiwork,  and  in  which  they  possess  a 
larger  stake  than  any  other  class  of  its  community. 

To  the  stranger  first  arriving  in  Singapore  nothing  can  be  more 
striking  than  the  busy  aspect  which  the  place  presents.  Every 


30 


TRIP  TO  THE  MAIN  LAND. 


street  swarms  with  long  tails  and  loose  trowsers ;  throughout 
whole  sections  of  the  town  are  red  lintels  of  the  door-posts  cover¬ 
ed  with  fantastic  characters,  which  betoken  a  Chinese  owner.  At 
early  dawn  the  incessant  hammering,  stitching,  and  coblering 
commences,  which  lasts  until  nearly  midnight ;  when  huge  paper 
lanterns,  covered  with  strange  devices,  throw  a  subdued  light  over 
rows  of  half-naked  yellow  figures,  all  eagerly  engaged  in  the  le¬ 
gitimate  process  of  acquiring  dollars  by  the  sweat  of  their  brow. 
It  is  impossible  to  overestimate  the  value  of  such  a  race,  or  to 
rate  too  highly  the  importance  of  placing  them  in  such  relations 
with  the  governing  powers,  by  the  cultivation  of  a  more  familiar 
intercourse,  and  a  certain  deference  to  their  habits  and  prejudices, 
as  should  render  them  contented  and  trustworthy,  as  well  as  prof¬ 
itable  members  of  society. 

I  was  fortunate  enough  to  have  a  farther  opportunity  of  ob¬ 
serving  the  energy  and  enterprise  of  these  people  in  a  short  trip 
which  I  made  to  the  main  land,  in  company  with  Mr.  Cameron 
and  Captain  Scott,  at  the  invitation  of  the  son  of  the  Tumangong 
of  Johore,  who  is  now  the  ruler  of  that  Malay  state.  The  latter 
is  the  son  of  the  man  who  claimed  the  independent  rule  of  the 
territory  in  which,  at  the  time  of  our  purchase  of  Singapore,  the 
island  was  situated.  This  claim  was  disputed  by  the  then  Sultan 
of  Johore.  The  Tumangong,  however,  was  supported  by  the 
British  government,  which  entered  into  a  treaty  with  him  and 
the  Sultan  of  Johore,  by  which  it  was  agreed  that  the  rights  of 
the  Tumangong  to  the  government  should  be  recognized  upon 
payment  by  him  to  the  sultan  of  a  certain  annual  pension.  Both 
these  dignitaries  now  reside  in  Singapore,  and  the  Tumangong  or 
his  son  only  occasionally  visit  their  possessions  on  the  main  land. 
In  the  latter  we  found  a  most  hospitable  and  amiable  entertainer. 

The  protracted  festivities  consequent  on  a  ball  given  in  Lord 
Elgin’s  honor  by  the  mercantile  community  rendered  our  depart¬ 
ure  rather  later  on  the  morning  of  the  13th  of  June  than  we  had 
intended.  At  last,  however,  our  host,  to  whom  such  gayety  was 
unusual,  appeared  with  a  very  roomy  dog-cart,  in  which  we  packed 
away  ourselves  and  our  guns.  Our  roads  intersected  the  island, 
here  about  fourteen  miles  across,  first  passing  between  well- 
trimmed  hedges  of  graceful  bamboo,  through  plantations  of  nut¬ 
megs,  that  clothe  the  numerous  swelling  knolls  with  which  the 
country  round  the  town  is  pleasantly  diversified,  and  the  sum- 


RESIDENCE  OF  THE  TUMANGONG. 


31 


mits  of  most  of  which  are  crowned  with  the  handsome  bungalows 
of  the  English  and  German  residents.  About  half  way  we  pass 
Bakit-timah,  the  highest  hill  in  the  island,  and  which,  though  only 
500  feet  above  the  sea-level,  enjoys  a  climate  so  superior  to  that 
of  the  town  of  Singapore  that  it  is  talked  of  as  a  sanitarium  for 
troops.  The  country  generally  is  pretty  well  cultivated;  there 
are  two  or  three  sugar  plantations,  but  the  cultivation  is  not  suf¬ 
ficiently  remunerative  to  induce  extended  speculation.  Gambier 
( uncaria  gambir)  and  pepper  are  more  profitable;  and  we  pass 
through  occasional  plantations  of  these  on  our  way  to  Kranji, 
whence  we  were  to  cross  the  strait  which  separates  the  island 
from  the  main. 

We  had  some  difficulty  in  embarking  on  board  the  two  sam¬ 
pans,  or  Malay  boats,  which  we  found  waiting  for  us  here,  an¬ 
chored  at  a  distance  from  the  sloping  muddy  bank,  and  which 
soon  transported  us  to  the  opposite  shore,  whence  we  ascended  to 
the  comfortable  bungalow  of  the  Tumangong.  Situated  upon  the 
summit  of  a  cleared  hill,  it  commands  a  beautiful  view  of  the  nar¬ 
row  straits  and  swelling  shores,  clothed  in  the  richest  verdure  to 
the  water’s  edge.  At  the  foot  of  the  hill  the  village  of  Sicudai, 
built  and  inhabited  entirely  by  Chinese  emigrants  within  the  last 
few  years,  is  perched  on  piles,  which  extend  some  yards  from  the 
shore. 

We  found  a  sumptuous  repast  prepared  for  us  in  European  style 
in  the  bungalow,  which  answers  the  double  purpose  of  a  residence 
for  the  Tumangong  and  a  court-house  for  his  subjects.  At  this 
point  the  Sicudai  River  enters  the  straits,  and  upon  its  banks  a 
large  number  of  pepper  and  gambier  plantations  have  been  lately 
opened  by  the  Chinese ;  it  flows  round  the  base  of  the  mountain 
of  Gunung  Pulai,  which  rises  to  a  height  of  about  3000  feet  above 
the  sea-level,  and  which  the  Tumangong  has  consented  to  allow 
the  government  to  make  use  of  as  a  sanitarium — an  offer  of  which 
we  have  not  as  yet  been  sensible  enough  to  avail  ourselves.  Easy 
of  access,  either  by  land  or  water,  from  Singapore,  it  would  be  a 
most  agreeable  resort  for  the  European  part  of  the  population 
during  the  hottest  months ;  and  a  road  from  hence  might  be  cut 
across  the  country  to  Malacca,  distant  about  seventy  miles,  which, 
while  it  would  open  up  to  Chinese  enterprise  an  almost  unknown 
district,  would  form  a  valuable  means  of  communication  between 
our  own  settlements. 


32 


GAMBIER  PLANTATIONS. 


At  present  tlie  principal  attraction  winch  Gunnng  Pulai  and  its 
neighborhood  offer  are  the  wild  animals  which  are  found  in  those 
rarely-trodden  forests.  The  sportsman  who  has  exhausted  every 
variety  of  game  to  be  found  in  the  jungles  of  India  will  derive  a 
fresh  excitement  here  in  hunting  the  rhinoceros,  or  watching  for 
the  wary  tapir ;  while  on  the  muddy  banks  of  sluggish  rivers  he 
may  surprise  the  saladang  or  wild  ox,  a  species  peculiar  to  the 
forests  of  the  Malay  peninsula,  and  which  has  not  yet  been  de¬ 
scribed  by  naturalists.  From  the  accounts  we  received,  the  ele¬ 
phant-shooting  seems  to  be  inferior  to  that  in  Ceylon ;  while,  al¬ 
though  the  jungles  literally  swarm  with  tigers,  a  shickar,  in  the 
Indian  sense  of  the  term,  is  unknown.  Our  time,  however,  did 
not  admit  of  any  exploration  in  this  direction ;  we  therefore  fol¬ 
lowed  the  advice  of  the  host,  who  proposed  visiting  a  large  and 
prosperous  village  upon  a  neighboring  river.  Re-embarking  in 
our  sampans,  we  coasted  for  some  miles  along  the  northern  shore 
of  the  straits.  Generally  they  are  not  above  a  mile  broad,  and  in 
some  parts  they  narrow  to  little  more  than  three  furlongs,  so  that 
we  could  scarcely  realize,  as  we  glided  between  their  wooded 
banks,  that  this  was  not  a  river,  but  the  only  passage  which  at 
one  time  was  known  into  the  China  Seas,  through  which,  for  near 
two  centuries,  Portuguese  and  Dutch  galleons  had  passed,  freight¬ 
ed  with  the  rich  merchandise  of  the  East. 

In  the  afternoon  we  entered  the  mouth  of  a  considerable  river, 
which  we  ascended  for  two  hours,  when  we  left  the  boats  and 
started  on  foot  for  the  village  of  Tubrao,  while  our  sampans  pro¬ 
ceeded  to  the  same  place,  following  the  circuitous  windings  of  the 
river.  Our  path  led  us  through  plantations  of  pepper  and  gam- 
bier,  separated  by  broad  belts  of  heavy  jungle,  winding  between 
tall  columns  of  leaves,  where  the  pepper  vine,  trained  like  the 
hop,  completely  concealed  with  its  rich  luxuriance  the  slender 
poles  that  supported  it.  Sometimes  we  forced  our  way  through 
thick  bushes  of  the  gambier,  in  the  midst  of  which  the  thatched 
cottages  of  the  cultivators  are  buried ;  if  we  observe  a  thick  smoke 
issue  from  one  of  these,  and  enter  to  satisfy  our  curiosity,  we  find 
a  group  of  Chinamen  collected  like  witches  round  a  caldron,  in 
which  are  bubbling  and  boiling  bushels  of  gambier  leaves.  As 
soon  as  the  juice  is  inspissated  and  boiled  to  the  consistence  of  a 
sirup,  it  is  poured  into  moulds,  and,  when  dry,  cut  into  cakes,  hav¬ 
ing  very  much  the  appearance  of  pieces  of  light-colored  India- 


LUXURIANT  FOREST.— VILLAGE  OF  TUBRAO. 


rubber.  The  refuse  leaves  are  thrown  into  a  large  canoe-shaped 
trough,  which  projects  over  the  caldron,  and  carried  away  to  the 
pepper-plantations  for  manure.  The  leaves  are  pulled  three  or 
four  times  a  year,  and  in  fifteen  years  a  plantation  becomes  ex¬ 
hausted.  Mr.  Crawford  says :  u  Gambier  contains  from  40  to  50 
per  cent,  of  pure  tannin,  and  hence  it  has  been  of  late  years  large¬ 
ly  imported  into  Europe,  to  be  used  in  the  purposes  of  dyeing  and 
tanning,  the  quantity  imported  yearly  into  England  being  not  less 
than  6000  tons.” 

It  is  a  relief  to  escape  from  the  slanting  rays  of  the  sinking  sun, 
and  dive  into  the  dark  recesses  of  the  forest,  where  tall  limbless 
trees  rise  to  a  gigantic  height,  and  weave  their  topmost  branches 
into  an  impenetrable  shade,  while  orchids  five  or  six  feet  in  diam¬ 
eter,  cling  like  huge  excrescences  to  the  leafy  roof.  It  is  singular 
that,  though  upward  of  two  hundred  species  of  timber  have  been 
collected,  most  of  them  of  great  height  and  growth,  not  above  half 
a  dozen  are  really  valuable ;  among  them  are  the  ebony,  sapan, 
and  eagle-wood,  but,  more  valuable  than  all,  the  gutta-percha. 
The  Tumangong  told  us  that  he  had  prohibited  the  sale  of  this 
important  article  of  commerce  for  the  present,  as  the  accessible 
parts  of  the  forest  had  been  cleared  of  nearly  all  the  old  trees. 
The  price  of  the  commodity  has  been  recently  very  much  in¬ 
creased  in  consequence.  Among  the  palms  we  observed  the  ni- 
bung,  nipa,  and  areka,  while  bamboos  waved  gracefully  over  us, 
rivaled  only  by  the  tree-fern ;  and  conspicuous  among  the  dense 
underwood,  the  ratan  reared  its  tufted  crown.  Occasionally  troops 
of  monkeys  noisily  swung  themselves  from  branch  to  branch 
overhead,  and  birds  of  gaudy  plumage  glanced  across  our  path. 

The  village  of  Tubrao  was  situated  on  the  banks  of  the  river, 
and  surrounded  by  plantations,  and  we  no  sooner  made  our  ap¬ 
pearance  in  the  narrow  street  than  the  whole  population  turned 
out  to  inspect  us,  so  unusual  was  the  sight  of  a  visitor  to  that  se¬ 
questered  spot.  W e  held  a  sort  of  levee  in  the  house  of  the  old 
Chinaman  who  officiated  in  the  capacity  of  Patriarch  to  the  com¬ 
munity.  It  was  a  quaint,  rambling  wooden  tenement  of  one  sto¬ 
ry,  with  a  broad,  deep  veranda  supported  by  carved  pillars,  and 
large  empty  apartments  like  audience  halls,  used  as  carpenters 
shops,  or  bedrooms,  or  courts,  as  the  occasion  might  arise,  and 
hung  over  with  the  usual  gigantic  paper  lanterns.  We  seated 
ourselves  in  the  veranda,  and  were  regaled  with  disagreeable 

C 


34 


DEPREDATIONS  OF  TIGERS. 


preparations  of  betel,  in  which.  I  observed,  as  a  principal  ingredi¬ 
ent,  gambier,  unknown  as  a  condiment  among  the  betel-chewers 
of  Ceylon.  Having  done  due  honor  to  this  mark  of  attention  by 
filling  our  mouths  with  its  crimson  juice,  we  were  glad  to  wash 
them  out  with  some  delicious  tea,  served  to  us  in  small  China 
cups,  together  with  divers  descriptions  of  sweetmeats. 

Meanwhile  we  were  entertained  by  numerous  eager  narrators 
with  wonderful  accounts  of  the  depredations  which  the  tigers  had 
recently  committed  in  the  neighboring  plantations,  and  which 
surpassed  all  former  experiences  of  a  similar  character.  They 
pointed  out  to  us  among  the  crowd  which  surrounded  us  the  oc¬ 
cupants  of  no  fewer  than  twenty  plantations  who  had  deserted 
their  cottages  through  fear  of  these  daring  and  ferocious  animals, 
and  taken  refuge  in  the  village.  Out  of  the  comparatively  small 
population,  upward  of  fifty  Chinamen  had  been  carried  off  during 
the  preceding  three  weeks.  On  one  day  alone  five  had  disap¬ 
peared;  and  when  we  visited  their  burial-ground,  and  observed 
the  number  of  graves  with  umbrellas  over  them,  to  mark  that  the 
bones  of  the  occupants  had  been  found  and  laid  there  after  they 
had  been  picked  by  the  tigers,  we  were  convinced  that  this  was 
no  exaggerated  statement.  Upward  of  10,000  piculs,  or  about 
£15,000  worth  of  pepper,  had  been,  in  consequence,  left  upon  the 
trees,  dread  of  the  tigers  predominating  in  the  breasts  of  the  own¬ 
ers  over  love  of  their  property. 

As  we  had  brought  some  rifles  with  us,  we  informed  our  enter¬ 
tainers  that  we  should  be  delighted  to  undertake  a  campaign 
against  these  savage  enemies  if  they  could  hold  out  any  prospect 
of  success.  The  proposition  was  received  with  unanimous  ap¬ 
plause,  but  it  was  clear  that  no  one  had  the  slightest  notion  of 
how  it  was  to  be  executed.  We  offered  to  wait  until  the  follow¬ 
ing  day,  and  have  a  regular  battue,  if  they  would  beat  the  jungle 
with  drums  and  fire-works.  This,  however,  was  a  mode  of  pro¬ 
cedure  to  which  they  entirely  objected;  and  this  I  secretly  did 
not  regret,  as  a  previous  experience  in  India  had  taught  me  the 
danger  of  tiger-shooting  on  foot ;  so  we  then  suggested  that  we 
should  proceed,  a  little  before  the  moon  rose,  to  a  deserted  planta¬ 
tion,  and  watch  a  bait.  This  was  more  readily  agreed  to,  and  the 
whole  crowd  instantly  dispersed,  and  instituted  a  vigorous  cru¬ 
sade  against  the  dogs  of  the  village.  The  process  of  securing 
these  was  in  the  highest  degree  ludicrous;  the  screams  of  the 


GREAT  INCREASE  OF  CULTIVATION. 


35 


Scene  on  the  Tubrao  River  (Malay  Peninsula). 

the  water.  A  few  large  trading-boats  gave  token  of  some  mer¬ 
cantile  activity  even  in  this  remote  corner  of  Asia,  and  we  were 
surprised  to  hear  how  recently  the  process  of  opening  up  the 
neighboring  country,  and  the  creation  of  commerce  consequent 
upon  it,  had  commenced.  Ten  years  ago  the  banks  of  this  river 
were  almost  unexplored ;  now  the  produce  of  180  plantations  was 
transported  down  its  waters.  Some  notion  of  the  extent  of  the 
Chinese  population  may  be  gathered  from  the  consumption  of 
opium.  The  Tumangong  received  22|  per  cent,  upon  the  month¬ 
ly  sales  of  opium  from  the  farmer  of  the  license.  His  monthly 


Chinamen  mingled  with  the  yells  of  their  unfortunate  victims, 
who  seemed  to .  have  a  presentiment  of  the  fate  which  awaited 
them,  and  avenged  themselves  on  the  fat  calves  of  their  perse¬ 
cutors.  At  last,  after  a  degree  of  noise  and  excitement  sufficient 
to  have  secured  as  many  wolves,  two  luckless  curs  were  brought 
to  us,  and  hung  by  the  legs  over  a  balustrade.  We  protested 
against  this  inhuman  treatment,  and  they  were  in  consequence 
transferred  to  an  oblong  basket. 

We  dined  in  a  picturesque  cottage,  built  upon  piles  over  the 
river,  and  could  see  through  the  crevices  of  the  floor  the  sampans 
moored  beneath,  and  the  current  gently  rippling  past;  a  rustic 
foot-bridge  spanned  the  stream,  and  massive  foliage  drooped  into 


36  START  ON  A  TIGER-HUNT.— UNSUCCESSFUL  RESULT. 


revenue  derived  from  this  source  amounted  to  13,000  rupees. 
He  also  received  a  ground  rent  of  one  dollar  a  month  for  every 
plantation  of  whatever  description  of  cultivation,  beginning  from 
the  commencement  of  the  third  year  of  its  existence.  There  are 
now  about  2000  plantations  in  the  entire  district  of  Johore  pay¬ 
ing  this  rent,  and  the  number  is  steadily  increasing.  They  are, 
almost  without  exception,  the  property  of  Chinese  emigrants.  It 
is  to  be  regretted  that  the  cultivators  are  not  permanent  occu¬ 
pants.  Until,  however,  Chinamen  can  be  induced  to  bring  their 
wives  into  foreign  countries,  the  community  to  which  they  mi¬ 
grate  only  derives  half  the  advantage  which  would  accrue  were 
permanent  ties  created  which  should  bind  to  the  soil  a  race  so 
eminently  qualified  for  its  development. 

Our  repast  over,  we  sallied  forth,  an  uncouth  procession.  A 
number  of  Malays  led  the  way,  and  flourished  their  long  spears, 
the  handles  of  which  were  Malacca  canes,  with  broad  blades  at¬ 
tached  to  them.  Then  we  followed,  surrounded  by  numerous 
torch-bearers,  while  the  great  part  of  the  village  population 
brought  up  the  rear,  the  basket  containing  our  canine  victims 
being  slung  between  two  Chinamen.  After  stumbling  in  dark¬ 
ness  through  sundry  plantations,  we  at  last  arrived  at  the  cottage 
said  to  be  deserted,  in  which  we  were  to  take  up  our  station.  To 
our  disgust,  we  no  sooner  approached  it  than  we  were  greeted 
with  the  barking  of  dogs  and  the  shouts  of  men,  who  appeared  as 
much  astonished  and  dismayed  at  our  nocturnal  invasion  as  if  we 
had  been  tigers  ourselves.  They  informed  us  that  ten  days  had 
elapsed  since  three  of  their  number  had  been  carried  off.  The 
two  remaining  had  then  left  the  plantation  in  a  panic,  but  had 
lately  returned,  and  had  not  been  troubled  with  any  new  intima¬ 
tion  of  the  proximity  of  their  enemies.  Nor  could  they  tell  us 
at  which  plantation  our  efforts  would  be  most  likely  to  meet  with 
success,  or  even  where  we  should  be  sure  to  find  one  deserted. 
As  it  now  began  to  rain  heavily,  and  the  sky  was  so  overcast  as 
to  render  the  prospect  of  a  bright  moon  more  than  doubtful,  we 
determined  reluctantly  to  return  to  our  boats,  which  we  no  sooner 
reached  than  we  urged  upon  the  Tumangong  the  expediency  of 
proceeding  at  once  upon  our  journey. 

Meantime  admirable  beds  were  made  up  for  us  on  the  bottom 
of  our  boat  under  the  pent-roof  of  palm  leaves,  which  serves  effect¬ 
ually  to  protect  the  voyager  in  a  sampan  against  the  midday  sun 


ARRIVAL  AT  JOHORE. 


37 


or  the  dews  of  night ;  beneath  this  we  stretched  our  weary  limbs, 
while  with  sturdy  stroke  our  Malay  crew  propelled  our  light 
craft  rapidly  down  the  stream. 

Morning  found  us  sailing  with  a  light  favorable  breeze  through 
the  straits,  and  we  soon  reached  the  eastern  outlet.  Here,  on  the 
extreme  point  of  the  island,  at  a  spot  called  Shangy,  from  whence 
a  good  road  has  been  made  to  Singapore,  we  landed  to  breakfast. 
The  straits  at  this  point  are  divided  by  the  island  of  Pulo  Obin, 
upon  which  some  valuable  granite  quarries  are  situated.  Round¬ 
ing  this  island,  we  shortly  after  entered  a  broad  river,  or  rather 
frith,  and  sailed  for  about  twenty  miles  between  banks  which 
were  heavily  timbered,  and  backed  by  an  undulating  country, 
but  we  looked  in  vain  for  some  signs  of  life.  The  magnificent 
virgin  forest  has  not  yet  been  touched  by  the  axes  of  men  anxious 
to  replace  it  by  a  profitable  cultivation,  nor  has  the  broad  bosom 
of  the  stream  yet  been  plowed  by  the  keels  of  native  craft,  freight¬ 
ed  with  all  the  varied  produce  which  the  soil  is  so  well  adapted 
to  yield,  and  which  possesses  the  additional  advantage  of  being  in 
close  proximity,  by  water,  to  a  large  and  ready  market. 

There  can  be  little  doubt,  however,  that  ere  long  the  face  of 
nature  here  too  will  be  changed  by  the  industrious  hand  of  the 
Chinese.  Our  host  told  us  that  higher  up  the  river  they  had  be¬ 
gun  to  open  plantations,  while  he  derived  a  considerable  revenue 
*  from  a  tin  mine  some  few  miles  above  J ohore.  This  town  is  sit¬ 
uated  upon  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  here  about  four  miles  broad : 
a  few  Malay  houses  standing  in  the  river  upon  piles,  and  a  few 
more  hidden  in  a  thick  grove  of  cocoanut-trees,  are  all  that  now 
represent  the  former  capital  of  the  state,  and  residence  of  its  sul¬ 
tan.  The  desolation  which  surrounded  it  did  not  lead  us  to  expect 
much  in  the  town  itself,  but  we  were  hardly  prepared  to  find  only 
a  miserable  village,  containing  scarce  a  thousand  inhabitants. 
Still  it  was  interesting  to  visit,  as  differing  from  those  Chinese 
villages  which  are  now  dotting  the  coast  and  creeks  of  the  main 
land.  The  houses  looked  more  substantial,  and  had  a  more  dis¬ 
tinctive  character.  Some  of  them  were  three  stories  high,  with 
windows  usually  in  the  gables,  latticed  and  set  in  quaintly-carved 
frames,  and  out  of  these  occasionally  protruded  the  naked  figures 
of  wondering  children,  or  the  half-concealed  countenances  of  in¬ 
quisitive  females.  The  thatch  is  made  of  a  broad  leaf  called  the 
jolong-jolong,  screens  of  which  also  project  over  the  windows. 


38 


ITS  HISTORICAL  ASSOCIATIONS 


Native  House  at  Johore  (Malay  Peninsula). 


The  sides  are  sometimes  formed  of  the  same  material ;  sometimes, 
in  the  better  class  of  houses,  of  wooden  panels.  Whether  on 
land  or  water  the  house  is  invariably  built  on  piles  some  twelve 
feet  high,  and  the  first  story  is  reached  by  a  ladder.  The  only 
object  of  such  an  arrangement  on  land  must  be  to  serve  as  a  pro¬ 
tection  from  wild  beasts. 

There  are  no  historical  associations  of  any  importance  connect¬ 
ed  with  J ohore ;  indeed,  it  is  a  town  of  comparatively  recent  date, 
having  only  been  founded  by  the  Malays  in  1512,  after  their  ex¬ 
pulsion  from  Malacca  by  the  Portuguese  in  the  previous  year. 
According  to  Mr.  Crawfurd,  from  that  period  until  1810  there 


A  PICTURESQUE  REPAST. 


39 


reigned  in  Johore  fourteen  princes,  giving  an  average  duration  of 
twenty-one  years  to  each  reign.  The  prince  who  died  in  the  last 
of  these  years  left  two  sons,  who  disputed  the  succession.  It  suit¬ 
ed  the  policy  of  the  English  and  Dutch  governments  to  take  each 
one  of  the  rivals  as  its  protege,  and  hence  the  cession  of  Singapore 
to  the  first,  and  of  the  island  of  Bintang  to  the  last.  Both  princes 
are  now  pensioners,  the  protege  of  the  English  claiming  sover¬ 
eignty  over  the  countries  north  of  the  straits  of  Singapore,  and  he 
of  the  Dutch,  those  to  the  south  of  it,  as  laid  down  by  the  Con¬ 
vention  of  London  of  1824. 

We  strolled  into  the  interior  with  our  guns,  in  hopes  of  seeing 
game,  but  the  jungle  was  impenetrable ;  and  although  the  marks 
of  large  game  were  numerous,  wood-pigeons  and  squirrels  were 
the  only  signs  of  life  visible.  Then  evening  closed  in,  and  the 
sun,  ere  it  finally  sank,  polished  the  smooth  surface  of  the  river 
till  it  looked  like  a  sheet  of  burnished  copper ;  and  numbers  of 
flying  foxes  ( Pteropus  Javanicus )  awoke  to  the  duties  of  the  night, 
and  flapped  lazily  overhead  on  their  way  to  the  gardens  of  the 
village.  We  amused  ourselves  firing  at  them  as  they  sailed  over¬ 
head  like  giant  and  plethoric  rooks  going  to  roost ;  but  they  were 
usually  too  high  up,  and  we  only  saw  one  tumbled  headlong  into 
a  grove  of  cocoanut-trees,  where,  however,  it  was  too  dark  to  find 
him. 

Meantime  a  busy  group  was  assembled  round  a  collection  of 
pots  and  kettles,  which  began  to  possess  a  strong  interest  in  our 
eyes.  Our  host  had  pointed  out  to  us  where  the  palace  of  his  an¬ 
cestors  had  once  stood,  but  at  the  same  time  informed  us  that  he 
possessed  no  habitation  of  his  own  at  the  former  seat  of  his  gov¬ 
ernment,  so  he  had  determined  to  give  us  an  al  fresco  dinner  rather 
than  invite  us  into  a  native  house,  an  arrangement  we  thoroughly 
agreed  in ;  and  the  growing  darkness  was  soon  illuminated  with 
the  glare  of  torches  made  of  damar  put  into  cocoanut  husks,  which 
flashed  luridly  upon  the  tall,  limbless  stems  of  the  trees,  and  upon 
dark  figures  cowering  over  cooking  fires,  or  hurrying  about  with 
water  and  the  preparatives  of  dinner.  A  rude  table  of  boards 
had  been  hastily  improvised,  and,  in  feeble  rivalry  to  the  surround¬ 
ing  blaze,  was  lighted  by  the  subdued  glimmer  of  a  civilized  read¬ 
ing-lamp.  A  handsome  service  of  China,  finger-glasses,  damask 
napkins,  and  all  the  appurtenances  of  an  elaborately  appointed 
table,  contrasted  strangely  with  the  rude  figures  and  uncouth  forms 


40 


RETURN  TO  SINGAPORE.— ITS  RAPID  PROGRESS. 


which  waited  on  ns ;  for  a  large  portion  of  the  population  were  in 
attendance,  and  added  to  the  novel  and  picturesque  effect  of  our 
picnic.  Our  well-cooked  dinner  was  accompanied  by  draughts  of 
deliciously  cool  cocoanut  water  fresh  from  the  trees  above  us, 
whose  branches  were  closely  intertwined  overhead, 

“A  verdurous  woof, 

A  hanging  dome  of  leaves,  a  canopy  moon-proof.” 

We  quitted  with  reluctance  the  scene  of  our  rural  festivities 
and  once  more  in  our  sampans  swept  down  the  smooth  current 
of  the  river  in  the  calm  moonlight,  our  crew  beguiling  the  way 
with  shrill  unmelodious  boat-songs,  in  which  screaming  choruses 
and  sudden  spasmodic  refrains  were  strangely  intermingled  with 
long  piercing  whistles  and  yells.  In  spite,  however,  of  their  anti¬ 
soporific  effect,  these  unearthly  noises  soon  mingled  in  our  dreams, 
and  we  only  woke  to  consciousness  to  find  ourselves  in  broad 
daylight,  coasting  along  the  southeastern  shore  of  the  island  of 
Singapore,  and,  after  a  prosperous  voyage  of  twelve  hours,  reached 
the  town. 


Malay  Sampan. 


Though  our  expedition  had  necessarily  been  limited,  it  had 
been  sufficient  to  enable  us  to  appreciate,  on  our  return  to  Singa¬ 
pore,  the  strong  contrast  which  the  British  settlement  exhibits  to 
the  native  territory.  Forty  years  have  not  elapsed  since  the  con¬ 
dition  of  our  island  was  the  same  as  that  of  the  main  land.  It 
then  contained  only  the  huts  of  a  few  Malay  fishermen.  Already 
a  hundred  thousand  souls  occupy  an  area  scarcely  greater  than 
that  of  the  Isle  of  Wight ;  the  forest  is  every  where  giving  place 
to  plantations  of  nutmeg  and  gambier ;  whole  suburbs  are  spring- 


ITS  FUTURE. 


41 


ing  up  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  town  as  if  by  magic ;  its  capa¬ 
cious  roads  are  filled  with  ships  of  every  nation  ;  its  revenue,  al¬ 
ready  exceeding  600,000  rupees,  increased  in  1856  by  about  a 
fifth  of  that  sum,  so  that  not  only  does  it  pay  its  own  local  ex¬ 
penses,  but  combines  with  the  other  Straits  settlements  to  main¬ 
tain  a  body  of  3800  convicts,  and  to  contribute  nearly  a  lakh  and 
a  half  of  rupees  toward  the  payment  of  the  military  force  from 
Madras  forming  the  garrison.  Such  progress — the  natural  growth 
of  an  American  town,  and  surpassed  even  by  some  of  our  own 
colonies — is  unprecedented  in  the  annals  of  the  East  India  Com¬ 
pany’s  possessions,  and  is  worthy,  on  that  account,  if  on  no  other, 
of  a  higher  consideration  than  it  has  received. 

The  future  of  Singapore  is  but  faintly  shadowed  forth  by  its 
past  history.  That  it  is  destined  to  hold  the  highest  position 
among  Eastern  emporia  seems  inevitable ;  but  the  speedy  arrival 
of  so  desirable  a  consummation  depends  upon  its  administration. 
Already  its  growth  has  been  checked  by  a  system  which  has, 
upon  the  continent  of  India,  proved  itself  ill  suited  for  the  devel¬ 
opment  of  internal  resources  and  the  rapid  extension  of  trade ; 
but  here  are  conditions  differing  from  those  of  any  other  portion 
of  the  late  Company’s  dominions.  In  addition  to  the  large  and 
daily -increasing  Anglo-Saxon  mercantile  community,  a  continual 
influx  of  Chinese  emigrants  here  compose  the  great  majority  of 
the  inhabitants. 

It  may  generally  be  said  that,  with  few  exceptions,  whatever 
product  of  the  Malay  or  Philippine  archipelago  demands  skill  and 
industry  in  its  production  is  the  result  of  Chinese  labor.  With¬ 
out  Chinese  labor  neither  the  Malay  nor  Philippine  archipelago, 
nor  Siam  nor  Cochin  China,  would  have  sugar  or  tin  for  their 
exportation.  Of  the  first  they  are  the  sole  producers;  of  the 
latter  they  produce  about  8000  tons.  Hence  it  will  appear  that 
at  Singapore  there  is  no  apathetic  population  indigenous  to  the 
soil  to  be  nursed,  but  one  composed  of  the  two  most  industrious 
and  enterprising  races  in  the  world,  and  who  are  quite  competent 
to  appreciate  the  advantages  of  a  more  progressive  system  of  gov¬ 
ernment.  When  an  altered  state  of  commercial  relations  with 
China  shall  have  opened  that  vast  field  to  European  enterprise — 
when  the  trade  with  Siam,  created  by  the  recent  treaty,  and  al¬ 
ready  rapidly  growing,  has  become  more  fully  developed — when, 
under  the  skillful  administration  of  its  European  rulers,  the  re- 


42 


ITS  FUTURE. 


sources  of  a  large  portion  of  Borneo  find  their  way  into  the  En¬ 
glish  market — when  the  Malay  peninsula,  extensively  peopled  by 
industrious  Chinese,  furnishes  its  important  and  valuable  produce 
— when,  in  fact,  from  these  and  other  sources,  the  whole  trade  of 
the  East  has  increased  ten-fold,  it  will  be  found  that  the  import¬ 
ance  of  Singapore  has  not  been  over-estimated.  In  the  mean 
time  we  may  be  permitted  to  hope  that  those  changes  which  have 
taken  place  in  the  administration  of  that  Eastern  empire,  of  which 
Singapore  forms  a  portion,  may  exercise  a  beneficial  influence 
upon  this  valuable  commercial  emporium. 


\ 


/ 


ARRIVAL  AT  HONG  KONG. 


43 


CHAPTER  III. 

Arrival  at  Hong  Kong. — Trip  up  the  Canton  River. — A  complicated  international 
Question. — Chuenpee. — Monster  Cannon. — Apathy  of  Population. — Macao  Fort. 
— Unhealthiness  of  the  River. — Spread  of  the  Mutiny. — Its  Influence  on  Lord 
Elgin’s  Policy. — Return  to  Singapore. — Address  of  mercantile  Community. — Ar¬ 
rival  at  Calcutta. — Sensation  created. — Moral  Effect  produced  on  the  Natives. 

We  had  scarcely  been  a  week  at  Singapore  before  our  anxieties 
were  relieved  on  the  score  of  the  speedy  continuance  of  our  jour¬ 
ney  by  the  arrival  of  the  magnificent  frigate  which  had  been 
placed  by  the  government  at  the  disposal  of  Lord  Elgin.  The 
Shannon  had  made  a  remarkably  quick  passage  from  England, 
under  the  energetic  command  of  the  gallant  Captain  Peel,  and  we 
congratulated  ourselves  on  the  favorable  auspices  under  which 
our  first  experiences  of  the  Celestial  Empire  seemed  destined  to 
be  made. 

A  farther  delay  of  a  few  days  was,  however,  involved,  as  Lord 
Elgin  had  determined  not  to  leave  Singapore  until  the  most  am¬ 
ple  and  complete  arrangements  had  been  made  for  the  speedy 
transmission  of  the  Chinese  expeditionary  force  to  India.  With 
this  view,  vessels  were  sent  to  the  Straits  of  Anjier  to  divert  from 
that  point  the  transports  conveying  the  90th  and  82d  regiments, 
so  as  to  avoid  the  unnecessary  detour  through  the  Malacca  Straits. 
Meantime  the  Simoon  had  arrived  with  the  5th  Fusileers,  and 
was  immediately  dispatched  to  Calcutta.  On  the  23d  of  June  we 
bade  adieu  to  Singapore,  not  without  regret,  as,  in  spite  of  the 
shortness  of  our  visit,  the  community  had  contrived  to  render  our 
stay  there  so  agreeable,  that  the  favorable  impression  we  then 
formed  was  not  afterward  effaced  by  any  of  our  subsequent  ex¬ 
periences  in  the  East. 

The  prevalence  of  the  southwest  monsoon,  and  the  admirable 
sailing  qualities  of  the  Shannon,  enabled  us  to  dispense  almost 
entirely  with  steam  on  our  voyage  up  the  China  Sea ;  and  on  the 
evening  of  the  ninth  day  after  leaving  Singapore,  we  thundered 
forth  a  noisy  intimation  of  our  arrival  to  the  inhabitants  of  Hong 
Kong. 


44 


COMPLICATED  INTERNATIONAL  QUESTION. 


On  the  6th  of  July  Lord  Elgin  landed  under  a  general  salute, 
and  proceeded  to  Government  House  for  the  purpose  of  holding 
a  levee,  and  going  through  those  official  formalities  incidental  to 
his  entry  on  the  sphere  of  his  future  labors.  As,  however,  in 
consequence  of  the  Fatshan  Creek  affair,  and  other  events  which 
had  recently  occurred  up  the  Canton  River,  the  scene  of  our  pres¬ 
ent  operations  there  was  invested  with  so  much  interest,  Mr.  Loch 
and  I  took  advantage  of  the  departure  of  H.  M.  S.  Inflexible  for 
Macao  Fort  on  the  day  following  for  the  purpose  of  collecting  in¬ 
formation  with  as  little  delay  as  possible.  The  scenery  in  the 
immediate  neighborhood  of  Hong  Kong,  and  for  the  first  eight  or 
ten  miles  after  leaving  it,  is  not  unlike  that  of  the  W estern  High¬ 
lands  of  Scotland.  W e  dexterously  steered  between  high  grassy 
islands,  round  sharp  corners,  past  little  hamlets  at  the  end  of  se¬ 
cluded  bays,  and  through  narrow  devious  channels,  till  at  last  we 
might  fancy  ourselves  threading  the  Kyles  of  Bute  instead  of  the 
Capshui  Moon,  or  straits  which  separate  the  island  of  Lantao  from 
the  main.  From  it  we  emerge  upon  the  Bay  of  Lintin. 

We  can  hardly  consider  ourselves  upon  the  Pearl  River  (as 
the  Canton  River  is  properly  called)  until  we  reach  Chuenpee,  for 
here  the  opposite  coast  is  not  visible,  and  the  white  sails  of  innu¬ 
merable  junks  dot  the  horizon — each  high-sterned  craft  a  matter 
of  curious  speculation  to  every  naval  officer  who  sees  her,  and 
who,  in  the  condition  in  which  our  diplomatic  relations  with  the 
empire  then  were,  is  thrown  into  a  state  of  profound  perplexity 
as  to  whether  she  is  his  lawful  prize  or  not :  he  finds  himself  at 
once  entangled  in  a  maze  of  knotty  points,  involving  intricate 
questions  of  international  law,  upon  which  he  is  called  to  decide 
on  the  spot.  She  may  be  a  smuggler  in  British  interests,  in 
which  case  he  is  to  let  her  pass ;  or  a  peaceful  trader  in  American 
interests,  taking  up  charcoal  and  saltpetre  for  gunpowder  to  be 
exploded  against  us,  in  which  case  he  is  not  to  let  her  pass ;  or  a 
peaceful  trader  in  purely  Chinese  interests,  and  as  such  to  be  re¬ 
spected  ;  or  a  purely  Chinese  smuggler,  when  her  capture  is  op¬ 
tional  ;  or  a  regular  out-and-out  pirate,  when  it  is  advisable ;  or  a 
merchantman,  but  suspiciously  well-armed,  when  it  is  discretion¬ 
ary ;  or  a  mandarin  (man-of-war)  junk  in  the  disguise  of  a  mer¬ 
chantman,  when  it  is  imperative.  Under  these  complicated  cir¬ 
cumstances,  the  simple  plan  of  proceeding  manifestly  is  to  make  a 
prize  of  the  junk,  and  settle  afterward  whether  she  is  pirate, 


CHUENPEE.— MONSTER  CANNON.  45 

trader,  snake-boat,  mandarin-boat,  smuggler,  or  fast-boat,  together 
with  the  law  that  applies  to  her. 

Formerly  boats  had  been  allowed  to  go  up  armed,  but  not  to 
come  down ;  but  recently  a  system  of  passes  had  been  introduced, 
which  only  served  to  render  matters  more  complicated.  Mean¬ 
time  trifling  affrays  were  daily  occurring,  reflecting  but  little 
glory  on  those  engaged — injuring  our  prestige  with  the  Chinese, 
but  yet  rendered  inevitable  by  the  anomalous  condition  in  which 
our  relations  stood  with  reference  not  only  to  China,  but  to  other 
nations  engaged  in  carrying  on  commercial  operations  with  her. 
Notwithstanding  this  species  of  constant  irritation  which  was  kept 
up  on  the  river,  our  ships  maintained  the  most  amicable  inter¬ 
course  with  the  inhabitants  on  the  banks,  who  supplied  them  with 
meat  and  vegetables ;  indeed,  each  ship  had  usually  a  bum-boat 
specially  attached. 

In  about  four  hours  we  reached  Chuenpee,  and,  in  spite  of  the 
heat,  scrambled  to  the  top  of  the  hill,  from  where  we  had  a  mag¬ 
nificent  view  of  the  surrounding  country,  out  of  which  rise  the 
naked  hills,  washed  bare  by  violent  tropical  rains,  so  that  the 
beauty  of  their  slopes  may  be  said  to  have  been  sacrificed  by  na¬ 
ture  to  fertilize  the  rich  alluvial  plains  at  their  base.  In  the  dis¬ 
tance  was  the  walled  town  of  Hoomanchai,  celebrated  for  the  sign¬ 
ing  of  the  supplementary  treaty.  The  creek  by  which  it  was  ap¬ 
proached  was  staked  across  as  a  means  of  defense. 

Though  of  comparatively  a  trifling  elevation,  the  little  barrack 
at  the  top  of  the  Chuenpee  Hill  answered  the  purpose  of  a  sanita¬ 
rium.  The  fort  was  held  at  this  time  by  130  men  and  one  small 
gun.  Some  monstrous  cast-iron  Chinese  cannon,  weighing  5  tons 
each,  measuring  about  13  feet  in  length,  and  of  a  calibre  larger 
than  a  95  cwt.,  had  been  buried  by  the  Chinese  without  ever 
having  been  fired,  and  were  now  being  exhumed. 

At  Chuenpee  we  met  Commodore  Keppel  and  Sir  Bobert  Mac- 
lure,  and  accompanied  them  to  the  Bogue,  upon  this  occasion 
taking  but  a  hurried  view  ot  those  forts  already  so  celebrated  in 
the  history  of  our  Chinese  wars,  and  with  which  we  were  destined 
to  become  much  better  acquainted.  A  little  beyond  them  we 
passed  a  creek  in  which  the  Esk’s  boats  had  been  engaged  the 
day  before,  and  had  succeeded  in  capturing  a  snake-boat,  which 
we  saw,  though  with  a  loss  of  three  men  killed  and  seven 
wounded. 


46 


APATHY  OF  POPULATION. 


After  passing  the  Bogue  we  are  fairly  in  the  river,  and  the 
navigation  begins  to  be  impeded  by  shoals.  At  the  second  of 
these  is  a  pagoda,  known  as  Second  Bar  Pagoda ;  then  we  turn 
off  to  the  left  into  Blenheim*  Passage,  along  which,  at  the  period 
of  our  visit,  junks  were  not  allowed  to  pass.  Though  these  wa¬ 
ters  were  exclusively  traversed  by  our  men-of-war,  the  agricultur¬ 
al  population  little  heeded  the  puffing  of  the  numerous  steamers 
which  were  constantly  engaged  in  keeping  up  the  communication 
between  Macao  Fort  and  the  other  ships  stationed  on  the  river; 
and  though  rarely  a  day  passed  without  the  sound  of  a  distant 
cannonade  falling  upon  their  ears,  they  had  become  accustomed 
to  the  strife  by  which  they  were  surrounded,  and  worked  as  busily 
in  their  paddy-fields  as  though  Fatshan  were  a  myth,  Canton  in 
another  world,  and  British  gun-boats  a  necessary  condition  of 
their  existence. 

It  was  our  first  introduction  to  Chinese  scenery:  numerous 
villages  dotted  the  river  banks,  some  of  them  utterly  destroyed 
and  depopulated  either  by  rebels  or  ourselves;  others  densely 
crowded  among  trees,  the  most  conspicuous  object  being  the  high 
square  tower,  with  massive  loop-holed  walls,  rising  in  proud 
eminence  above  the  surrounding  roofs,  indicative,  not  of  some  old 
feudal  baron,  who,  secure  in  his  strong-hold,  holds  the  lives  of  his 
vassals  in  pawn  for  their  good  behavior,  but — significant  of  the 
character  of  the  race — of  some  old  usurer  who  needs  a  fortress  for 
the  preservation  of  sundry  goods  and  chattels  which  he  holds  in 
pawn  for  the  credit  of  his  victims.  The  number  of  these  pawnbrok¬ 
ing  towers  inspires  one  with  rather  a  low  estimate  of  the  solvency 
of  the  community.  Then  there  are  tall  red  poles,  scattered  in  pairs 
among  the  villages,  betokening  a  joss-house,  or  the  residence  of  a 
mandarin.  The  carved  gables  of  the  better  class  of  houses  pro¬ 
ject  above  the  other  roofs  like  gigantic  grave-stones,  while  the 
graves  themselves  resemble  the  mouths  of  large  wells. 

Here  and  there  a  hill  is  crowned  by  a  tall  pagoda,  while  lesser 
pentagonal  towers,  four  or  five  stories  high,  with  pointed  roofs, 
rise  above  the  trees  like  those  of  churches.  At  the  base  of  bar¬ 
ren  hills  are  charming  wooded  nooks,  which  look  all  the  greener 
and  fresher  by  the  contrast,  while  an  active  population  is  swarm¬ 
ing  every  where ;  men  are  fishing  in  tiny  punts  on  the  river ; 
women  are  patching  up  the  basket  screens  which  retain  the  mud 
of  the  paddy-fields  on  the  banks,  or  wading  about  in  the  mud 


MACAO  FORT. 


47 


looking  for  something ;  coolies  are  traversing  with  swinging  gait 
the  ridges  of  the  fields,  heavily  loaded ;  while  under  the  shade  of 
the  spreading  branches  of  the  giant  Ficus  Indicus ,  or  at  the  doors 
of  joss-houses,  motley  groups  are  collected,  gazing  at  us  as  we 
sweep  past. 

We  found  the  Fury  and  Highflyer  the  advanced  ships,  and, 
transferring  ourselves  here  into  a  gun-boat,  proceeded  toward  Ma¬ 
cao  Fort,  past  the  boom  which  had  been  stretched  across  the  river 
by  the  Chinese,  close  to  the  entry  up  the  Fatshan  Creek.  The 
fort,  so  gallantly  stormed  by  Commodore  Elliot,  was  distinctly 
visible.  Macao  Fort  is  distant  about  three  miles  from  Canton; 
situated  on  a  little  island  nearly  in  mid-stream,  it  occupies  a  fa¬ 
vorable  position  as  an  advanced  post,  though  with  a  more  active 
enemy  the  small  garrison  could  never  have  maintained  them¬ 
selves  there,  as  they  did,  for  a  year.  The  present  force  consisted 
of  160  men,  and  the  fort  mounted  14  guns.  From  the  top  of  the 
tower,  which  was  used  as  a  hospital,  we  had  a  good  view  of  Can- 


Macao  Fort  (Canton  Eiver). 


ton  and  the  White  Cloud  Mountains  in  rear,  on  which  sundry 
white  tents  betokened  the  presence  of  troops. 


48 


SPREAD  OF  THE  MUTINY 


The  garrison  was  composed  of  men  from  the  Raleigh,  and 
seemed  to  pass  an  existence  in  which  the  hardships  of  war  were 
not  altogether  nntempered  by  the  refinements  of  civilization. 
The  admirable  band  belonging  to  the  “late”  frigate  played  some 
elaborate  pieces  with  great  execution,  while  we  discussed  'pates  de 
fois  gras  and  Champagne,  seated,  it  is  true,  on  upturned  boxes  and 
round  a  table  of  primitive  manufacture,  while  our  sideboard  had 
apparently  done  duty  at  some  former  period  as  the  altar  of  a  joss- 
house.  As  habiliments  were  scarce,  the  costume  of  the  sentry 
exhibited  a  pleasing  mixture  of  John  Chinaman  and  Jack  Tar. 

A  good  deal  knocked  up  ourselves  by  our  day’s  labors,  we 
could  not  but  sympathize  with  the  naval  forces  stationed  along 
the  whole  length  of  the  river  at  so  unhealthy  a  season  of  the 
year.  The  thermometer  was  standing  at  102°  under  the  shade 
of  the  awning  on  board  the  Esk ;  and  it  was  not  to  be  wondered 
at  that,  under  the  combined  influence  of  sun  and  miasma,  one 
vessel  alone,  out  of  a  small  complement  of  130  men  in  perfect 
health,  should  have  put  60  on  the  sick-list  in  the  short  space  of 
three  weeks.  Under  these  circumstances,  we  were  not  tempted 
to  linger  up  the  river  longer  than  was  absolutely  necessary, 
though  the  change  to  Hong  Kong,  which  we  reached  on  the  fol¬ 
lowing  day,  was  only  tolerable  by  contrast. 

A  few  days  after  our  return  to  Hong  Kong  news  arrived,  the 
serious  nature  of  which  increased,  if  possible,  the  already  existing 
complications  of  the  position  in  which  Lord  Elgin  found  himself 
placed  on  his  arrival  in  China.  The  prolonged  resistance  at  Del¬ 
hi,  the  rapid  spread  of  the  rebellion  into  the  lower  provinces  of 
Bengal,  and  the  urgent  representations  of  Lord  Canning  of  the 
exigencies  of  the  situation,  not  only  deprived  the  embassador  of 
any  hope  of  saving  any  part  of  the  China  force  from  the  vortex 
into  which  they  were  being  swallowed  by  the  inexorable  necessi¬ 
ties  of  India,  but  rendered  it  extremely  improbable  that  they, 
could  ever  be  made  available  for  the  objects  for  which  they  were 
originally  designed.  His  only  consolation  was  that  he  had  ap¬ 
preciated  the  true  position  of  affairs  in  India  at  a  sufficiently  early 
date  to  enable  him  to  divert  the  troops  to  that  country  at  the  most 
critical  period  of  its  fortunes ;  but  the  difficulties  of  the  situation 
in  China  had  been  immeasurably  enhanced  by  the  sacrifice. 

It  was  clear  that  any  attempt  to  negotiate  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood  of  the  capital  of  the  empire,  unaccompanied  by  any 


ITS  INFLUENCE  ON  LORD  ELGIN’S  POLICY. 


49 


force,  must  depend  very  much  for  success  upon  the  moral  effect 
created  by  the  aspect  of  affairs  in  the  south.  The  presence  of  an 
army  at  Hong  Kong  might  have  sufficed  to  produce  this,  but  not 
only  was  our  force  there  contemptible,  but  our  naval  operations 
had  resulted  in  failure.  Yeh  had  vindicated  the  policy  of  his 
treatment  of  the  barbarians,  and  triumphal  arches  had  been  erect¬ 
ed  to  commemorate  his  success ;  while,  to  import  a  new  set  of 
considerations  into  the  question,  Baron  Glros  was  not  expected  to 
arrive  in  China  for  some  months.  Under  these  circumstances, 
only  three  other  courses  remained  open — either  to  take  Canton, 
to  remain  inactive  at  Hong  Kong,  or  to  leave  the  country  until 
the  diplomatic  questions  at  issue  there  could  be  approached  un¬ 
der  different  and  more  favorable  auspices.  The  season  of  the 
year,  and  the  weakness  of  the  force  to  be  employed,  rendered 
the  capture  and  occupation  of  Canton  impossible  in  the  opinion 
of  the  commanders-in-chief.  A  residence  involving  total  inaction 
at  Hong  Kong  was  calculated  to  injure  the  prestige  of  the  mission, 
while  it  was  attended  with  no  one  single  advantage. 

On  the  other  hand,  this  evil  was  avoided  by  an  immediate  de¬ 
parture,  while  in  choosing  Calcutta  as  his  destination,  and  taking 
with  him  as  many  marines  as  could  be  spared  from  the  river,  Lord 
Elgin  adopted  a  course  which  enabled  him  not  only  to  satisfy 
himself  as  to  the  probable  fate  of  the  original  China  force,  and  to 
judge  of  the  possibility  and  expediency  of  supplying  their  place, 
as  was  subsequently  done,  with  quasi-mutinous  Bengal  regiments, 
but  to  bring  a  moral  and  material  support  to  Lord  Canning  at  a 
moment  when  it  seemed  probable  that  the  safety  of  Calcutta  it¬ 
self  was  menaced.  Indeed,  so  urgent  appeared  the  exigencies 
of  the  case,  that  Lord  Elgin  even  then  determined  to  give  up  the 
Shannon  to  the  Indian  government,  if  Captain  Peel  considered 
that  the  organization  of  a  naval  brigade  to  operate  in  the  prov¬ 
inces  of  Upper  Bengal  was  a  feasible  scheme.  That  officer  ex¬ 
pressed  no  hesitation  on  the  subject,  and  the  high  reputation 
which  he  had  already  earned  in  a  similar  service  in  the  Crimea 
operated  as  an  additional  inducement  with  Lord  Elgin  to  proceed 
with  him  to  Calcutta.  This  resolution  was  no  sooner  formed  than 
acted  upon,  and  within  thirty-six  hours  after  the  Indian  intelli¬ 
gence  was  received  the  Shannon  was  once  more  plowing  her  way 
over  the  China  Sea,  accompanied  by  the  Pearl,  whose  assistance 
was  required  for  the  conveyance  of  the  troops. 

D 


50  SINGAPORE.— ADDRESS  OF  MERCANTILE  COMMUNITY. 


The  following  address,  presented  to  Lord  Elgin  by  the  mer¬ 
chants  of  Singapore  on  his  arrival  there,  was  satisfactory  to  his 
excellency,  as  proving  that  the  course  he  was  then  adopting  car¬ 
ried  with  it  the  approbation  of  a  community  whose  most  import¬ 
ant  interests  were  at  stake  both  in  India  and  China : 

“To  his  Excellency  the  Right  Hon.  the  Earl  of  Elgin  and  Kincardine,  K.T., 
Her  Majesty's  High  Commissioner  and  Plenipotentiary  to  the  Court  of  Pekin. 

“Singapore,  July  20,  1857. 

“  My  Lord, — We,  the  undersigned  mercantile  firms  and  others 
interested  in  the  trade  of  Singapore,  are  induced,  by  a  considera¬ 
tion  of  the  serious  aspect  of  affairs  in  India,  and  of  the  important 
bearing  which  it  must  have  upon  those  questions  which  it  was  the 
object  of  your  excellency’s  mission  to  settle  in  China,  to  present 
this  address  to  your  lordship,  believing  that  at  this  critical  junc¬ 
ture,  when  complications  have  arisen  involving  such  grave  inter¬ 
ests  in  both  countries,  it  will  be  gratifying  to  your  excellency  to 
know  that  the  mercantile  community  of  Singapore,  although 
closely  connected  in  trade  with  China,  and  anxiously  desirous  for 
the  speedy  and  satisfactory  resumption  of  commercial  relations 
with  Canton,  have  nevertheless  cordially  concurred  in  the  resolu¬ 
tion  which  your  excellency  has  taken  of  diverting  the  China  ex¬ 
peditionary  army  from  its  destination  to  the  assistance  of  the 
European  force  now  engaged  in  the  defense  of  our  Indian  posses¬ 
sions.  The  decided  step  which  your  lordship  has  so  promptly 
taken  of  following  that  army  yourself  has  afforded  us  the  most 
lively  satisfaction.  Its  absence  from  the  sphere  of  its  operations 
in  China,  and  the  uncertainty  attending  the  period  of  its  ultimate 
dispatch  to  that  country,  would,  in  our  opinion,  have  rendered 
your  stay  there  comparatively  useless,  more  particularly  as  the 
extent  of  our  naval  force  is  amply  sufficient  for  the  protection  of 
trade  and  the  maintenance  of  the  status  quo  until  your  lordship’s 
return. 

“  On  the  other  hand,  we  feel  that  the  magnitude  of  the  stake  in 
India,  and  the  fearful  nature  of  the  crisis  which  is  now  impending 
there,  supersede  all  other  considerations. 

“We  believe  that  the  arrival  of  your  lordship  at  Calcutta  in 
this  emergency  will  be  of  the  greatest  advantage  in  producing  an 
important  moral  effect  throughout  India,  and  in  affording  the  gov¬ 
ernor  general  most  valuable  support. 


ARRIVAL  AT  CALCUTTA. 


51 


“At  the  same  time,  we  sincerely  trust  that  the  progress  of 
events  in  India  may  shortly  assume  such  a  character  as  will  en¬ 
able  your  lordship  to  return  to  the  original  field  of  your  labors 
under  more  favorable  auspices. 

“We  have,  etc., 

(Signed),  “A.  L.  Johnston  &  Co., 

and  twenty-seven  others 


The  awful  intelligence  of  the  massacre  of  Cawnpore  reached  us 
here,  and  we  did  not  therefore  remain  longer  than  was  absolutely 
necessary  to  take  in  400  tons  of  coal — a  feat  which  was  perform¬ 
ed  in  the  almost  incredibly  short  space  of  twenty-one  hours — and 
to  pick  up  300  men  of  the  troops  wrecked  in  the  ill-fated  Transit. 
Distributing  these  between  the  Pearl  and  ourselves,  we  at  once 
proceeded  on  our  voyage,  cheered  by  the  news  that  the  Himalaya 
had  already  passed,  and  that  ships  were  on  the  watch  at  the  Straits 
of  Anjier  for  the  diversion  of  the  Assistance  and  Adventure,  now 
daily  expected.  Our  own  decks  were  densely  crowded  with  near¬ 
ly  a  thousand  souls,  whose  condition  was  not  improved  by  an  at¬ 
mosphere  in  which  the  thermometer  continually  stood  over  90°. 
Notwithstanding  the  utmost  exertions  of  Captain  Peel  in  “carry¬ 
ing  on,”  in  consequence  of  the  prevalence  of  the  southwest  mon¬ 
soon  we  had  been  a  fortnight  in  beating  down  to  Singapore  ;  but 
we  were  favored  up  the  Bay  of  Bengal  by  the  gales  which  had 
been  adverse  to  us  in  the  China  Sea,  and  reached  the  Sandheads 
in  exactly  three  weeks  from  the  date  of  our  leaving  Hong  Kong. 

The  interest  which  we  felt  as  we  approached  the  theatre  of  the 
terrible  drama  which  was  then  being  enacted  in  India  was  con¬ 
verted  into  a  still  livelier  emotion  by  the  intelligence  which  we 
received  when  we  reached  Diamond  Harbor  of  a  rumor  that  a 
large  body  of  mutineers  were  marching  down  from  Berhampore 
upon  Calcutta.  The  more  ardent  spirits  among  us  at  once  imag¬ 
ined  that  we  were  fated  to  arrive  there  just  in  time  to  take  an 
active  share  in  the  defense  of  the  city ;  while  Lord  Elgin,  who 
knew  not  what  credit  to  attach  to  the  report,  at  a  time  when  every 
successive  mail  had  so  far  surpassed  our  worst  anticipations,  im¬ 
mediately  telegraphed  to  Lord  Canning  his  proximity  with  1700 
men  (the  Pearl  and  blue-jackets  included). 

As  we  swept  past  Garden  Reach  on  the  afternoon  of  the  8th 
of  August,  the  excitement  on  board  was  increased  by  early  indi- 


52 


MORAL  EFFECT  ON  THE  NATIVES. 


cations  of  the  satisfaction  with  which  onr  appearance  was  hailed 
on  shore.  First  our  stately  ship  suddenly  burst  upon  the  aston¬ 
ished  gaze  of  two  European  gentlemen  taking  their  evening  walk, 
who,  seeing  her  crowded  with  the  eager  faces  of  men  ready  for 
the  fray,  took  off  their  hats  and  cheered  wildly ;  then  the  respect¬ 
able  skipper  of  a  merchantman  worked  himself  into  a  state  of 
phrensy,  and  made  us  a  long  speech,  which  we  could  not  hear, 
but  the  violence  of  his  gesticulations  left  us  in  little  doubt  as  to 
its  import ;  then  his  crew  took  up  the  cheer,  which  was  passed  on 
at  intervals  until  the  thunder  of  our  68-pounders  drowned  every 
other  sound,  shattered  the  windows  of  sundry  of  the  “palaces,” 
attracted  a  crowd  of  spectators  to  the  Maidan,  and  brought  the 
contents  of  Fort  William  on  to  the  glacis. 

As  soon  as  the  smoke  cleared  away,  the  soldiers  of  the  garrison 
collected  there  sent  up  a  series  of  hearty  cheers ;  a  moment  more, 
and  our  men  were  clustered  like  ants  upon  the  rigging,  and,  in 
the  energy  which  they  threw  into  their  ringing  response,  they 
pledged  themselves  to  the  achievement  of  those  deeds  of  valor  « 
which  have  since  covered  the  naval  brigade  with  glory.  After 
the  fort  had  saluted,  Lord  Elgin  landed  amid  the  cheers  of  the 
crowd  assembled  at  the  Ghaut  to  receive  him,  and  proceeded  to 
Government  House,  gratified  to  learn,  not  merely  from  the  popu¬ 
lar  demonstrations,  but  from  Lord  Canning  himself,  that,  though 
happily  the  physical  force  he  had  brought  with  him  was  not  re¬ 
quired  to  act  in  defense  of  the  city,  still  that  the  presence  of  a 
man-of-war  larger  than  any  former  ship  that  had  ever  anchored 
abreast  of  the  Maidan,  and  whose  guns  commanded  the  city,  was 
calculated  to  produce  both  upon  the  European  and  native  popu¬ 
lation  a  most  wholesome  moral  effect,  more  especially  at  a  time 
when  the  near  approach  of  the  Mohurrum  had  created  in  men’s 
minds  an  unusual  degree  of  apprehension  and  excitement. 


CONDITION  OF  INDIA  IN  AUGUST,  1857. 


53 


CHAPTER  IY. 

Condition  of  India  in  August,  1857. — State  of  Calcutta. — Organization  of  naval 
Brigade. — The  Mohurrum. — Departure  from  Calcutta. — Policy  adopted  by  Lord 
Elgin. — Residence  at  Hong  Kong. — Its  Absence  of  Attractions. — A  Trip  up  the 
River. — Macao. — A  Chinese  Dinner. 

• 

We  spent  August,  1857,  in  Calcutta.  Of  all  the  eventful  months 
of  that  most  terrible  year  in  India’s  history,  it  was  probably  the 
one  most  pregnant  with  evil  forebodings.  At  no  former  period 
had  the  crisis  appeared  so  imminent.  Two  commanders-in-chief 
had  already  succumbed  before  Delhi ;  our  army  was  dwindling 
away  under  its  walls,  and  its  leaders  urgently  demanding  re-en¬ 
forcements  which  did  not  exist.  Agra  was  besieged  by  a  muti¬ 
nous  army,  and  men  feared  for  the  unhappy  garrison  a  repetition 
of  the  Cawnpore  tragedy.  This  frightful  catastrophe  appeared 
to  impend  still  more  surely  over  the  devoted  band  at  Lucknow, 
whose  deliverance  at  one  time  was  considered  hopeless.  At  Dina- 
pore  our  troops  had  just  met  with  a  disaster.  The  gallant  little 
army  under  General  Havelock,  despairing  of  re-enforcements,  deci¬ 
mated  by  cholera,  and  worn  out  by  battles  and  hardships,  were 
compelled  to  retire  on  Cawnpore.  Oude,  Rohilcund,  Bundelcund, 
were  lost  to  us ;  the  disaffection  threatened  to  spread  into  the  other 
presidencies ;  every  where  the  mutineers  seemed  triumphant ;  sta¬ 
tion  after  station  was  being  deserted  and  plundered;  each  week 
steamers  full  of  fugitives  arrived  from  up  the  country,  with  addi¬ 
tional  horrors  to  recount,  and  more  disaffection  to  report.  All 
communication  was  stopped  with  the  northwest ;  from  Burdwan 
to  Delhi,  the  country  was  infested  with  mutineers ;  and  every 
regiment  but  two  in  the  Bengal  army  had  either  been  disarmed, 
disbanded,  or  had  mutinied.  With  the  exception  of  the  small 
China  force,  no  European  troops  had  arrived  or  were  expected  to 
arrive  for  two  months.  Meantime  the  hot  weather  was  all  against 
us,  and  all  in  favor  of  the  rebels. 

Under  these  painful  circumstances,  nothing  struck  me  so  forci¬ 
bly  on  my  arrival  as  the  apparent  calm  which  reigned  in  Calcutta; 
and  yet,  after  the  first  few  weeks,  nothing  appeared  more  reason- 


54 


STATE  OF  CALCUTTA.— NAVAL  BRIGADE. 


able  than  that  this  should  be  so.  Those  who  are  removed  to  a 
great  distance  from  the  scene  of  thrilling  events,  and  experience 
at  the  receipt  of  periodical  intelligence  from  it  an  intense  degree 
of  excitement,  forget  that  if  those  on  the  spot  were  to  be  subject¬ 
ed  to  a  similar  strain  upon  the  nervous  system,  continued  over  a 
length  of  time,  it  would  give  way  altogether.  Providentially,  the 
very  proximity  of  the  danger,  and  constant  familiarity  with  those 
horrible  details,  which,  arriving  by  installments  in  England,  acted 
on  society  like  a  series  of  electric  shocks,  produced  a  calmness  al¬ 
most  amounting  to  apathy  in  India.  So  far  as  the  outward  aspect 
of  society  was  concerned,  Calcutta  was  just  as  I  had  left  it  seven 
years  before.  The  Maidan  was  just  as  crowded  by  its  beauty  and 
fashion  now  as  it  used  to  be  then ;  burra-cannas  were  nearly  as 
numerous,  considering  it  was  the  height  of  the  hot  weather ;  and 
there  was  even  a  wretched  attempt  at  an  opera,  which,  however, 
was  very  thinly  attended.  The  only  differences  I  observed  were 
that  constant  reviews  took  place  of  volunteer  corps ;  that  the  gov¬ 
ernor  general’s  body-guard  mounted  sentry  without  swords  ;  and 
that  dining  in  Fort  William  involved  the  risk  of  being  bayoneted 
by  a  series  of  Irish  sentries,  who  would  not  admit  your  pronun¬ 
ciation  of  the  parole  to  be  correct,  and  were  haunted  by  the  sus¬ 
picion  that  you  were  the  King  of  Oude  in  disguise  escaping  in  a 
buggy. 

It  would  be  in  the  highest  degree  unjust  to  attribute  this  appar¬ 
ent  indifference  to  any  want  of  appreciation  of  the  real  nature  of 
the  crisis,  much  less  to  any  want  of  sympathy  in  behalf  of  those 
who  had  suffered,  or  of  depth  of  feeling  on  the  part  of  the  suffer¬ 
ers  themselves.  It  arose  rather  from  that  deliberate  courage  and 
steady  determination  to  face  the  danger  and  support  the  trials 
which  had  so  eminently  distinguished  our  countrymen  scattered 
throughout  the  upper  provinces,  and  which  had  led  to  acts  of  un¬ 
paralleled  heroism.  The  public  felt  that,  with  the  present  defi¬ 
ciency  of  physical  force,  they  must  principally  rely  for  safety  upon 
that  moral  effect  which  an  undaunted  attitude  would  create  in  the 
minds  of  the  natives.  Nowhere  was  this  conviction  more  decid¬ 
edly  entertained,  or  its  results  more  conspicuously  displayed  than 
at  Government  House,  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  ex¬ 
ample  set  by  Lord  Canning  himself  in  this  respect  exercised  a 
most  wholesome  and  tranquillizing  influence  upon  society  at  large. 

Meantime  the  organization  of  the  naval  brigade  proceeded  rap- 


THE  MOHURRUM. 


55 


idly ;  indeed,  we  had  scarcely  left  the  ship  before  our  cabins  were 
dismantled,  and  the  preparations  commenced  for  the  equipment 
of  very  nearly  the  entire  ship’s  company.  Within  a  week  after 
our  arrival  in  Calcutta  these  were  completed,  and  Lord  Elgin 
went  on  board  the  Shannon  to  bid  farewell  to  the  men  and  offi¬ 
cers  in  a  parting  address,  which  was  received  with  hearty  cheers. 
A  few  hours  afterward  they  were  on  board  the  flats  which  were 
to  convey  them  to  the  scene  of  their  future  triumphs. 

We  found  Sir  Patrick  Grant  at  Calcutta,  and  a  few  days  after¬ 
ward  Sir  Colin  Campbell  unexpectedly  arrived  to  assume  the 
command-in-chief  of  the  army  in  India,  and  to  inspire  fresh  confi¬ 
dence  into  the  minds  of  all.  The  most  exciting  period  of  our 
visit  was  during  the  last  days  of  the  Mohurrum,  when  predictions 
were  rife  of  midnight  attacks,  and  one  or  two  ladies  took  refuge 
on  board  ships  in  the  river.  A  24-pound  howitzer,  hoisted  up  to 
the  main-top  of  the  Shannon,  looked  menacingly  over  the  Maidan, 
while  strong  guards  of  soldiers  and  volunteers  were  posted  all 
over  the  town.  The  last  day,  however,  universally  named  as  the 
day  of  attack,  passed  over  quietly.  I  happened  to  meet  the  pro¬ 
cession  on  their  way  to  throw  the  Ziahs  into  the  water.  I  have 
scarcely  ever  seen  a  Mohammedan  religious  procession  less  ex¬ 
cited  ;  indeed,  the  panic  among  the  natives  was  much  greater  than 
among  the  Europeans,  for  the  preparations  made  by  the  latter  in¬ 
duced  a  dread  on  the  part  of  the  natives  that  they  might  be  at¬ 
tacked  by  mistake. 

Lord  Elgin  was  detained  at  Calcutta  until  the  arrival  of  the 
mail  informing  him  that  the  force  which  he  had  diverted  was  to 
be  replaced  by  1500  marines.  An  offer  made  by  General  Hear¬ 
say  for  regiments  to  volunteer  for  China  was  only  responded  to 
by  one,  and  it  was  evident,  therefore,  that  no  dependence  could 
be  placed  upon  extensive  re-enforcements  to  be  derived  from  this 
source.  As  for  the  original  China  force,  it  was  owing  to  their 
opportune  arrival  that  the  tide  of  rebellion,  which  had  been  set¬ 
ting  steadily  down  upon  Calcutta,  was  already  stemmed.  The 
regiments  diverted  from  Singapore  had  saved  Hinapore,  relieved 
Arrah,  and  were  in  full  march  to  join  Havelock:  upon  these 
timely  re-enforcements  not  only  was  the  relief  of  Lucknow,  but 
the  safety  of  Bengal  depending.  It  was  therefore  clear  to  Lord 
Elgin  that  he  need  not  expect  to  see  again  any  one  of  the  China 
regiments  now  employed  in  India,  nor,  while  they  were  rendering 


56  DEPARTURE  FROM  CALCUTTA.— LORD  ELGIN’S  POLICY. 

such  vital  service,  could  he  desire  it.  A  consideration  of  these 
circumstances  involved  a  very  serious  change  in  his  policy  in 
China,  whither  he  was  now  desirous  of  returning  for  the  purpose 
of  conferring  with  Baron  Gros  immediately  upon  his  arrival.  In 
consequence  of  the  Shannon  having  been  made  over  for  the  serv¬ 
ice  of  the  Indian  government,  the  Peninsular  and  Oriental  Com¬ 
pany’s  steamer  Ava  was  placed  at  Lord  Elgin’s  disposal  for  his 
conveyance  to  China,  and  on  the  3d  of  September  we  bade  adieu 
to  our  hospitable  hosts  at  Calcutta,  and  once  more  turned  our 
faces  toward  the  Celestial  Empire. 

General  Yan  Straubenzee  and  his  staff,  who  had  arrived  in  Cal¬ 
cutta  with  Sir  Colin  Campbell,  under  the  impression  that  the  gen¬ 
erals  of  the  China  force  had  proceeded  with  it  to  India,  finding 
that  they  had  not  received  orders  to  leave  Hong  Kong,  accom¬ 
panied  us  on  our  return  voyage  to  that  place. 

On  the  20th  of  September,  after  a  prosperous  passage,  we  once 
more  found  ourselves  anchored  under  Victoria  Peak  in  circum¬ 
stances  very  little  more  encouraging  than  those  which  had  forced 
us  away  from  China  two  months  before.  An  expedition  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Peiho  was  more  than  ever  to  be  deprecated.  Two 
months  more  must  elapse  before  the  first  installment  of  marines 
could  be  expected,  at  the  most  favorable  computation.  Baron 
Gros  had  not  yet  made  his  appearance. 

In  the  mean  time,  during  our  absence  at  Calcutta,  the  compli¬ 
cations  and  difficulties  arising  out  of  the  anomalous  state  of  things 
already  described  upon  the  Canton  River  Bad  forced  the  admiral 
to  establish  a  blockade,  which  gave  a  new  complexion  to  the  as¬ 
pect  of  our  diplomatic  relations  with  the  imperial  government. 
To  go  to  the  mouth  of  the  Peiho  unsupported  either  by  the  rep¬ 
resentatives  of  other  powers  or  a  naval  force  of  our  own  would  be 
to  insure  an  insult  from  the  government  at  Pekin,  while  the  prev¬ 
alence  of  the  northeast  monsoon  would  retard  our  arrival  in  the 
Gulf  of  Pechelee  until  so  late  a  period  of  the  year  that  a  depart¬ 
ure  would  be  forced  upon  us  with  a  precipitancy  in  the  highest 
degree  encouraging  to  the  systematic  policy  of  the  empire  in  deal¬ 
ing  with  barbarians,  and  injurious  to  our  national  prestige.  The 
treatment  which  we  received  from  the  Chinese  authorities  upon 
the  occasion  of  our  subsequent  visit  to  the  Peiho  fully  confirmed 
the  estimate  then  formed  of  the  obstinacy  of  the  government  of 
Pekin.  Under  these  circumstances,  Lord  Elgin  determined  pa- 


RESIDENCE  AT  HONG  KONG. 


57 


tiently  to  await  at  Hong  Kong  the  arrival  of  the  force  destined 
for  the  capture  of  Canton,  and  when  that  operation  was  concluded, 
to  proceed  northward  as  early  as  possible  in  the  following  year, 
retaining  possession  of  the  city  as  a  material  guarantee  for  the 
satisfaction  of  our  demands. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  interval  of  inaction  at  Hong  Kong,  which 
this  determination  rendered  inevitable,  involved  an  existence  un¬ 
der  circumstances  of  a  somewhat  trying  character.  A  steamer  of 
the  Peninsular  and  Oriental  Company,  however  comfortable  its 
accommodation,  and  obliging  and  amiable  its  commander  (and  in 
Captain  Caldbeck  we  were  particularly  fortunate  in  this  regard), 
is  not  exactly  the  residence  which  one  would  select  in  which  to 
pass  two  summer  months  in  one  of  the  worst  tropical  climates  in 
the  world ;  nor,  even  if  the  attractions  of  Hong  Kong  were  less 
than  they  are,  which  is  scarcely  possible,  is  it  a  pleasant  thing  to  be 
anchored  a  mile  at  least  from  the  shore.  During  the  season  of 
typhoons  this  distance  was  doubled.  We  then  sought  shelter  un¬ 
der  the  Kowloon  Promontory ;  and  a  dinner  on  shore  was  a  seri¬ 
ous  undertaking,  when  it  involved  a  midnight  voyage  in  an  open 
Tanka  boat,  possibly  in  a  gale  of  wind  or  a  pitiless  storm  of  rain. 
This  was  an  experience  of  common  occurrence.  Sometimes  we 
were  detained  on  shore  from  stress  of  weather ;  and  on  the  occa¬ 
sion  of  a  typhoon,  which  destroyed  two  hundred  junks  at  Macao, 
but  the  full  violence  of  which  we  escaped,  the  Ava  was  obliged  to 
keep  under  steam  all  night. 

When  it  was  not  blowing  or  raining,  the  heat  was  intolerable, 
and  we  all  suffered  more  or  less  in  health  from  its  evil  effects. 
Often  for  days  together  we  remained  sweltering  on  board  from 
lack  of  energy  or  sufficient  inducement  to  leave  the  ship.  The 
charms  of  the  Club  or  the  excitement  of  a  game  of  billiards  failed 
to  tempt  us.  Hong  Kong  boasts  of  only  two  walks  for  the  con¬ 
scientious  valetudinarian — one  along  the  sea-shore  to  the  right, 
and  the  other  to  the  left  of  the  settlement :  then  there  is  a  scram¬ 
ble  to  the  top  of  Victoria  Peak  at  the  back  of  it ;  but  this  achieve¬ 
ment  involves  an  early  start,  and  a  probable  attack  of  fever.  The 
monotony  of  life  is  varied  by  this  malady  alternating  with  boils 
or  dysentery,  so  that  the  proverbial  hospitality  of  the  merchants 
at  Hong  Kong  can  only  be  exercised  under  very  adverse  influ¬ 
ences.  It  was  not  difficult  to  account  for  a  certain  depression  of 
spirits  and  tone  of  general  irritability  which  seemed  to  pervade 


58 


A  TRIP  UP  THE  RIVER. 


the  community.  A  large  bachelors’  dinner  was  the  extreme 
limit  of  gayety. 

It  was  provoking  that  a  place  possessing  so  many  scenic  at¬ 
tractions  should  have  been  so  entirely  devoid  of  other  charms. 
Like  a  beautiful  woman  with  a  bad  temper,  Hong  Kong  claimed 
our  admiration  while  it  repelled  our  advances.  We  did,  indeed, 
make  one  spasmodic  effort  to  be  “jolly  under  creditable  circum¬ 
stances.”  Lord  Elgin  gave  a  picnic  at  the  Bogue  Forts.  As  his 
invitations  were  responded  to  by  nearly  all  the  ladies  in  the 
place,  as  the  day  happened  to  be  lovefy,  and  the  Ava  admirably 
adapted  for  the  excursion,  the  attempt  was  not  altogether  unsuc¬ 
cessful,  and  on  our  return  at  night  we  indulged  in  a  little  pic¬ 
turesque  dissipation.  The  deck  was  turned  into  a  ball-room. 
The  band  of  the  Calcutta  supplied  us  with  excellent  music,  while 
huge  fantastic  Chinese  lanterns,  swinging  from  the  awning,  threw 
a  brilliant  light  upon  the  dancers. 

On  the  16th  of  October  Baron  Gros  arrived  in  the  Audacieuse, 
and,  after  conferring  with  Lord  Elgin,  took  up  his  anchorage  in 
Castle  Peak  Bay,  Lantao  Island,  where  Admirial  Rigault  de  Ge- 
nouilly,  with  the  French  fleet,  were  at  anchor,  about  twelve  miles 
distant  from  Hong  Kong.  As  Lord  Elgin  was  desirous  of  judg¬ 
ing  for  himself  on  the  state  of  matters  in  the  river,  he  proceeded 
in  the  Ava  to  Macao  Fort.  With  the  exception  of  the  withdrawal 
of  the  garrison  from  Chuenpee,  the  occupation  of  North  Wantung 
Island,  and  the  absence  of  any  junks  from  the  river  in  consequence 
of  the  blockade,  the  aspect  of  affairs  seemed  unchanged  since  my 
last  visit.  W e  cast  longing  glances  from  the  top  of  the  pagoda  in 
Macao  Fort  upon  the  heights  at  the  back  of  Canton,  crowned  by 
the  five-storied  pagoda  and  Gough’s  Fort,  with  which  we  hoped 
before  long  to  make  a  closer  acquaintance. 

On  our  return  voyage  we  passed  through  Elliot’s  Passage,  which 
had  not  been  traversed  for  months ;  we  therefore  took  another 
gun-boat,  towing  an  armed  pinnace,  so  as  to  be  prepared  for  the 
very  improbable  contingency  of  meeting  mandarin  junks.  The 
scenery  was  extremely  pretty ;  the  people  engaged  in  taking  in 
the  harvest  stared  at  us  with  curiosity,  but  apparent  confidence. 
We  entered  the  Whampoa  Channel  at  the  town  of  Whampoa, 
formerly  a  place  of  as  great  bustle  and  activity  as  the  port  of 
Canton,  the  site  of  docks,  and  the  anchorage  of  large  merchant 
fleets,  now  partially  deserted,  and  desolate-looking  in  the  extreme. 


MACAO.— A  CHINESE  DINNER. 


59 


On.  the  following  day  we  proceeded  to  Macao,  and  explored 
that  interesting  old  Portuguese  settlement,  with  which,  however 
we  have  been  too  long  familiar  in  England  to  render  description 
necessary.  Its  air  of  respectable  antiquity  was  refreshing  after 
the  somewhat  parvenu  character  with  which  its  ostentatious  mag¬ 
nificence  invests  Hong  Kong.  The  narrow  streets  and  grass- 
grown  plazas,  the  handsome  facade  of  the  fine  old  Cathedral 
crumbling  to  decay,  the  shady  walks  and  cool  grottoes,  once  the 
haunt  of  the  Portuguese  poet ;  his  tomb,  and  the  view  from  it 
all  combined  to  produce  a  soothing  and  tranquillizing  effect  upon 
sensibilities  irritated  by  our  recent  mode  of  life. 

We  strolled  down  to  the  harbor,  and  found  it  full  of  junks? 
most  of  them  heavily  armed  with  6,  9,  and  12-pound  guns,  bear¬ 
ing  the  well-known  initials  B.,  P.,  &  Co.,  of  this  year’s  date,  to  be 
converted  by  Yeh  to  his  own  use  when  occasion  required,  for  the 
crews  did  not  conceal  the  fact  that  Canton  was  their  destination — 
of  course  for  trading  purposes.  Since  the  blockade  of  the  river, 
the  whole  trade  with  Canton  has  been  carried  along  the  passage 
at  the  back  of  Macao,  known  as  the  Broadway. 

We  refreshed  ourselves  after  the  fatigues  of  our  exploration  at 
a  Chinese  restaurant,  where  I  made  my  first  experience  in  Chinese 
cookery,  and,  in  spite  of  the  novelty  of  the  implements,  managed, 
by  the  aid  of  chop-sticks,  to  make  a  very  satisfactory  repast  off 
eggs  a  year  old  preserved  in  clay,  sharks’  fins  and  radishes  pared 
and  boiled  into  a  thick  soup,  beche  de  mer  or  sea-slugs,  shrimps 
made  into  a  paste  with  sea-chestnuts,  bamboo  roots,  and  garlic, 
rendered  piquant  by  the  addition  of  soy  and  sundry  other  pickles 
and  condiments,  and  washed  down  with  warm  samshu  in  minute 
cups.  Dishes  and  plates  were  all  on  the  smallest  possible  scale, 
and  pieces  of  square  brown  paper  served  the  purpose  of  napkins. 

On  the  28th  of  October,  the  arrival  of  the  Imperador,  after  a  re¬ 
markably  quick  voyage,  with  the  first  batch  of  marines  on  board, 
imparted  new  life  and  hope  to  the  breast  of  every  one  connected 
with  the  Chinese  expedition.  It  was  the  first  faint  glimmering 
of  daylight  after  the  long  night  of  despondency  and  inaction. 


i 


60 


VOYAGE  TO  THE  PHILIPPINES. 


CHAPTER  Y. 

Voyage  to  the  Philippines. — Arrival  at  Manilla. — Appearance  of  the  Town. — A 
varied  Population. — Their  Costumes. — Tobacco-manufactory. — The  Price  of  To¬ 
bacco. — A  Pina  Shop. — Indolence  of  the  Mestizoes. — Industry  of  the  Chinese 
Population. — Chinese  Emigration  :  its  Advantages. — The  Captain  General  of  the 
Philippines. — Military  Mass. — A  Trip  to  Cavite. — A  religious  Procession. — Ex¬ 
cursion  to  the  Lago  de  Bai. — Los  Banos. — The  Romance  of  La  Gironiere. — The 
Island  of  Socolme. — A  stormy  Voyage. — The  Trade  of  Manilla. 

It  will  easily  be  believed  that  tbe  mode  of  existence  described 
in  tbe  last  chapter  was  one  calculated  to  give  one  a  very  keen  rel¬ 
ish  for  any  thing  like  a  change,  more  especially  when  that  change 
involved  all  the  excitement  of  novelty  and  sight-seeing  incidental 
to  a  visit  to  a  new  country.  It  was  therefore  with  no  little  satis¬ 
faction  that,  on  the  10th  of  November,  I  availed  myself  of  permis¬ 
sion  to  accompany  Captain  Sherard  Osborn  to  Manilla  in  H.  M.  S. 
Furious,  a  ship  with  which  I  was  destined  afterward  to  become 
better  acquainted,  and  in  which  he  was  then  kind  -enough  to  offer 
me  a  passage.  Mr.  Wingrove  Cooke,  with  whose  graphic  descrip¬ 
tions  of  the  events  which  at  this  period  transpired  in  China  the 
public  are  familiar,  was  my  fellow-passenger  on  this  occasion. 
After  a  pleasant  run  of  three  days  we  sighted  the  high  land  of  the 
island  of  Luzon,  and  coasted  along  its  wooded  shores,  indented 
with  deep  bays,  at  the  head  of  which  small  country  towns  were 
situated,  and  from  which  the  country  craft  issued  that  carry  on  a 
brisk  coasting  trade  with  Manilla. 

The  Bay  of  Manilla  is  so  capacious  as  to  partake  more  of  the 
character  of  an  inland  sea  than  of  a  harbor.  It  was  nearly  mid¬ 
night  when  we  made  its  narrow  entrance,  and  three  hours  more 
ere  we  reached  our  anchorage.  We  were  up  early  to  take  our 
first  look  of  Manilla,  but  the  view  of  the  town  from  the  sea  pre¬ 
sents  nothing  very  imposing.  A  long  row  of  red- tiled  roofs,  with 
here  and  there  the  dome  of  a  church,  appears  over  the  walls  of 
the  fort,  situated  in  the  angle  formed  by  the  embouchure  of  the 
River  Pasig,  and  separated  from  the  sea  by  a  strip  of  green  espla¬ 
nade.  Two  substantially -built  moles  or  “murallons”  confine  the 


MANILLA :  ITS  APPEARANCE. 


61 


waters  of  the  river  for  some  distance  after  they  have  reached  the 
sea ;  at  the  end  of  one  is  a  light-house,  and  of  the  other  a  guard¬ 
house.  We  pull  across  the  bar  between  walls  of  granite,  and 
wend  our  way  among  the  miscellaneous  assemblage  of  shipping 
that  crowds  the  river — Spanish  feluccas  and  Malay  proas,  English 
merchantmen  hauled  up  to  refit,  and  gun-boats  with  long  sweeps, 
and  pontines,  and  galeras,  and  cara§oas,  and  every  description  of 
country  craft  and  uncouth  rig,  and,  by  way  of  contrast,  two  small 
screw-steamers,  which  ply  across  the  harbor  to  Cavite,  of  which 
the  Spaniards  are  particularly  proud,  and  to  one  of  which  they 
have  given  the  significant  name  of  the  11  Progresso.”  Small  river- 
boats,  full  of  vegetables  or  passengers,  cut  in  and  out ;  groups  of 
women  are  collected  on  the  steps  bathing ;  and  Custom-house 
guards  lounge  upon  the  river  brink,  but  they  have  a  proper  re¬ 
spect  for  a  British  man-of-war’s  gig,  and  allow  us  to  reach  our 
landing-place  unchallenged,  and  carry  our  portmanteaus  to  the 
hotel  without  manifesting  the  slightest  curiosity  to  know  whether 
they  contain  the  two  articles  which  are  perhaps  most  commonly 
to  be  found  in  every  traveler’s  luggage,  but  which  are  most  strict¬ 
ly  prohibited  from  being  landed  at  Manilla,  to  wit,  Bibles  and 
revolvers. 

In  ascending  the  river,  the  fortified  town,  containing  the  garri¬ 
son  and  residences  of  the  officials,  is  on  the  right-hand  side ;  on 
the  other  is  a  densely  populated  suburb,  in  which  the  shops,  ho¬ 
tels,  and  foreigners’  houses  are  situated.  This  is  intersected  by 
sundry  canals  running  at  right  angles  to  the  river,  crowded  with 
boats,  and  on  the  banks  of  one  of  these  stood  the  hotel  to  which 
we  were  destined.  It  was  patronized  by  what  Americans  would 
call  “  a  mixed  crowd,”  chiefly  captains  of  merchantmen  from  ev¬ 
ery  quarter  of  the  globe,  but  whose  polyglot  conversation  did  not 
at  all  perplex  our  bustling  hostess,  as  she  spoke,  during  breakfast, 
English,  French,  Spanish,  Malay,  and  Hindostanee,  all  with  such 
perfect  fluency  that  her  own  nationality  remained  a  mystery. 

In  obedience  to  the  first  and  most  natural  impulse  of  a  visitor 
to  Manilla,  we  lost  no  time  in  making  our  way  to  the  principal 
cheroot  manufactory,  and  as  we  drove  through  the  streets  there 
was  plenty  to  engage  our  attention.  Their  whole  aspect,  as  well 
as  that  of  the  population  with  which  they  are  crowded,  differs 
entirely  from  that  of  any  other  town  I  had  ever  visited  in  the 
East.  The  houses  are  two-storied,  the  upper  half  forming  the 


i 


62 


VARIED  POPULATION.— COSTUMES. 


dwelling-house  and  the  lower  the  shop.  Round  the  upper  story 
runs  a  covered  balcony,  the  sides  and  fronts  composed  of  shutters 
divided  into  minute  squares,  which  are  filled  with  mother-of-pearl 
shells,  the  transparency  of  the  nacre  serving  the  purpose  of  glass. 
Beneath  this  balcony  blue  and  white  calico  screens  project,  and 
fall  beyond  the  side  pavement  in  such  a  manner  as  to  form  a  cov¬ 
ered  way  for  the  passengers,  sufficient  not  only  to  protect  them 
from  the  sun,  but  to  conceal  them  from  the  view  of  any  body  in 
the  centre  of  the  street.  These  screens  are  put  up  in  accordance 
with  a  municipal  regulation,  and  when  they  are  new,  and  the  col¬ 
ors  are  fresh,  give  a  gay  appearance  to  the  streets. 

A  mixed  multitude  throng  these  shady  sidewalks.  Chinese 
and  English,  pure  Spaniards  and  mestizoes,  Malays  and  Tagala 
Indians,  here  jostle  one  another,  and  present  every  possible  shade 
of  color  which  could  result  from  a  combination  of  all  these  races 
in  various  proportions.  The  variety  of  costume  is  similarly  grad¬ 
uated,  its  composition  depending  upon  the  composition  of  the 
wearer,  and  differing  only  in  degree  as  it  descends  from  the  Eu¬ 
ropean  to  the  Indian.  The  colored  men  are  for  the  most  part 
compelled  by  law  to  wear  their  shirts  outside  their  trowsers. 


Mestizoes. 


TOBACCO-MANUFACTORY. 


63 


These  latter  are  often  made  of  colored  silk,  while  the  shirt  is  com¬ 
posed  of  a  transparent  fabric  called  huse,  for  which  Manilla  is  cel¬ 
ebrated,  woven  from  the  fibre  of  the  banana  {Musa  textiiis ),  upon 
which  gay  patterns  are  generally  worked.  The  women  wear 
jackets  of  this  material,  which  cover,  but  do  not  conceal,  their 
figure  to  the  waist,  round  which  the  saya  or  petticoat  is  bound. 
The  coloring  is  always  bright,  and  over  it  is  sometimes  worn,  out 
of  doors,  a  sort  of  wrapper,  reaching  from  the  waist  to  the  knee, 
called  a  sapiz,  and  consisting  of  dark  blue  silk  or  cotton  cloth. 
This  is,  however,  more  particularly  an  article  of  dress  appertain¬ 
ing  to  the  Chinese  half-breeds  as  distinct  from  the  Spanish.  The 
slippers  are  an  impossible-looking  chaussure ,  the  toes  only  being 
■  covered  with  cloth,  gayly  embroidered  in  gold  and  silver,  but  so 
scanty  in  quantity  that  it  does  not  cover  the  little  toe,  which, 
projecting  at  the  side,  acts  as  a  sort  of  movable  clasp  to  keep  on 
the  slipper.  For  the  proper  performance  of  this  function  it  must 
require  a  special  education,  and  these  slippers  are  consequently 
by  no  means  a  useful  article  of  dress  to  present  to  any  one  out  of 
Manilla.  To  all  this  gay  coloring  is  contrasted  the  sober  costume 
of  the  priests,  whose  numbers  and  bearing  are  significant  of  the 
extent  of  that  ecclesiastical  influence  which  is  dominant  in  the 
Philippines. 

The  tobacco-manufactory  is  situated  in  a  square,  and,  as  we  en¬ 
tered  the  archway,  our  ears  were  saluted  with  a  din  worthy  of  a 
Manchester  cotton-mill.  We  go  up  stairs  under  the  guidance  of 
a  cicerone  told  off  to  us,  and  walk  through  endless  rooms  full  of 
women.  The  process  of  cigar-making,  as  practiced  here,  is  sim¬ 
ple,  monotonous,  and  noisy.  On  each  side  of  a  passage  or  aisle 
leading  down  the  centre  of  the  long  rooms  are  tables  raised  about 
a  foot  from  the  ground,  round  each  of  which  are  squatted  twelve 
or  fourteen  women,  who  keep  up  an  incessant  chattering,  ham¬ 
mering,  and  giggling.  Each  woman  is  provided  with  a  mallet, 
with  which  she  beats  out  the  leaf  preparatory  to  rolling  within  it 
a  small  handful  of  the  broken  tobacco,  which  she  takes  from  a 
heap  piled  along  the  whole  length  of  the  table.  Her  fingers  and 
mallet  seem  to  move  as  mechanically  as  her  tongue ;  but  the  com¬ 
bination  of  noises  is  deafening,  and  we  are  content  to  ask  very 
few  questions  on  the  spot,  and  to  get  our  information  afterward. 

I  was  surprised  at  the  proportion  of  Havana-shaped  cigars  which 
were  being  manufactured.  Formerly  these  were  entirely  reserved 


64 


THE  PRICE  OF  TOBACCO.— A  PINA  SHOP. 


for  local  consumption.  The  present  governor  has,  however,  al¬ 
lowed  them  to  come  into  competition  in  the  markets  of  the  world 
with  the  Havanas;  and,  whatever  may  be  their  success  in  that 
respect,  they  at  all  events  bid  fair  to  drive  the  old  cheroot  shape 
out  of  the  market.  The  best  tobacco  is  reserved  for  them,  and 
more  care  is  taken  in  their  manufacture.  They  are,  in  conse¬ 
quence,  very  highly  priced — the  No.  1,  Imperiales,  a  gigantic  ci¬ 
gar,  being  thirty  dollars  a  thousand ;  while  the  No.  2,  Cortado,  an 
ordinary -sized  cheroot,  is  only  eight.  *  The  Imperiales  contain  no 
broken  tobacco,  but  consist  simply  of  one  leaf  rolled  into  a  cigar. 
As  tobacco  is  a  government  monopoly,  the  prices  are  all  fixed  ar¬ 
bitrarily,  and  every  body  runs  the  same  risk  in  making  purchases. 
There  is  only  one  quality  of  each  size,  whether  Havana  or  Man¬ 
illa  shaped ;  but  the  larger  sizes  may  be  said,  as  a  rule,  to  be  com¬ 
posed  of  the  best  description  of  tobacco.  A  certain  amount  of 
tobacco  is  served  out  to  each  table,  out  of  which  a  given  quantity 
of  cigars  are  to  be  made.  By  these  means  a  uniform  size  in  the 
cigar  is  secured,  and  a  check  upon  the  consumption  of  tobacco 
imposed.  Each  woman  is  paid  according  to  the  quantity  of  cigars 
she  makes ;  their  earnings  vary  from  six  to  ten  dollars  a  month. 
There  is  a  popular  fallacy  very  common  in  England  that  cheroots 
contain  opium.  The  value  of  the  latter  drug  is  quite  a  sufficient 
proof  that  they  would  not  pay  at  their  present  price  were  that  the 
case.  I  could  scarcely  credit,  until  I  saw  the  returns,  the  fact  that 
the  consumption  of  tobacco  in  the  Philippines  themselves  is  about 
five  times  as  great  as  the  entire  amount  exported  to  foreign  mark¬ 
ets.  The  whole  population,  of  both  sexes  and  all  ages,  certainly 
appear  to  be  constantly  emitting  clouds  of  tobacco-smoke,  but 
their  numbers  scarcely  seem  to  warrant  this  proportion  of  the  en¬ 
tire  consumption. 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  fabrics  of  Manilla,  and  for  which  it  is 
justly  celebrated,  is  the  Piiia  cloth,  woven  from  the  fibre  of  the 
pine-apple.  It  is  only  used  in  the  dress  of  the  wealthy,  being  too 
costly  for  common  use.  Our  curiosity  on  the  subject  of  tobacco 
satisfied,  we  next  proceeded,  in  search  of  some  good  specimens  of 
Pina  manufacture,  to  the  house  6f  an  old  lady  celebrated  for  her 
varied  assortment  of  this  fabric.  To  my  surprise,  we  were  usher¬ 
ed  through  an  imposing  gateway  into  the  court-yard  of  a  no  less 
imposing  mansion.  A  handsome  carriage,  decorated  with  armori¬ 
al  bearings,  was  standing  here,  the  property  of  the  lady  of  the 


SHOPPING  AT  MANILLA.— INDOLENCE  OF  THE  MESTIZOES.  65 

house.  Ascending  the  massive  staircase,  we  were  shown  into  a 
well-furnished  drawing-room,  ornamented  with  pictures,  flower- 
stands  of  Bohemian  glass,  mirrors,  and  other  articles  of  taste  or 
virtu.  The  presiding  goddess  of  so  much  finery  stood  in  the 
centre  of  it  all,  smoking  a  giant  cigar,  and  looking  like  a  retired 
old  sick-nurse,  with  nothing  on  but  a  jacket  of  more  than  usually 
transparent  texture,  a  dirty  petticoat,  and  her  bare  feet  thrust  into 
faded  slippers.  I  could  scarcely  persuade  myself  that  so  untidy 
an  old  female  was  the  proprietress  of  the  handsome  carriage,  and 
of  the  expensive-looking  establishment  to  which  it  belonged. 
Her  daughter,  a  young  lady  of  some  attractions,  was  sitting,  sim¬ 
ilarly  attired,  in  the  next  room,  embroidering  Pina  pocket-hand¬ 
kerchiefs. 

The  Pina  is  more  curious  than  useful  to  people  who  are  in  the 
habit  of  wearing  something  thicker  than  gauze ;  and  accordingly 
a  small  outlay  was  sufficient  to  satisfy  our  wants,  if  not  those  of 
the  old  lady,  who  hospitably  plied  us  with  cigars  while  she  spread 
before  us  articles  of  every  variety  and  value.  An  elaborately 
embroidered  Pina  dress  is  often  priced  at  £300  and  upward. 

Shopping  at  Manilla  is  an  unsatisfactory  pursuit.  The  princi¬ 
pal  streets  are  the  Escolta  and  Rosario ;  but  all  the  best  shops  are 
kept  by  Chinamen,  who  fairly  beat  the  mestizoes  out  of  the  field 
sffe  traders.  The  superior  industry,  intelligence,  and  economical 
habits  of  the  pure  Chinaman  give  him  an  immense  advantage 
over  the  mestizo.  The  former  despises  feast-days,  and  cares  little 
for  personal  comfort ;  he  lives  in  the  little  shop  which  contains 
his  stock  in  trade,  and  keeps  his  eyes  open.  The  mestizo  spends 
half  his  existence  in  a  gala  dress,  does  not  condescend  to  live  in 
his  shop,  and  has  no  business  habits  when  he  is  there.  In  the 
middle  of  the  day  he  is  generally  asleep,  and  is  excessively  disgust¬ 
ed  at  being  roused  to  serve  a  customer.  It  is  not  at  all  an  un¬ 
common  thing  to  see  a  man  coiled  up  snoring  in  one  corner  of  his 
shop,  and  a  mestizo  girl  stretched  luxuriously  at  full  length  upon 
the  counter,  her  beautiful  black  hair  thrown  back  from  her  face, 
falling  in  wavy  massive  folds  to  the  ground,  and  her  bosom  heav¬ 
ing  so  softly  and  regularly  with  the  long-drawn  breath  of  a  pro¬ 
found  slumber,  that,  rather  than  do  violence  to  his  aesthetic  na¬ 
ture  by  disturbing  sleeping  beauty,  the  purchaser  moves  gently 
on  to  the  next  shop,  and  finds  a  grinning  Chinaman,  with  his 
eyes  so  destitute  of  lids  that  he  looks  as  if  he  could  not  wink, 

E 


66 


INDUSTRY  OF  THE  CHINESE  POPULATION. 


much  less  sleep,  but  which  sparkle  with  intelligence  and  cupidity, 
who  is  imbued  with  the  firm  determination,  if  he  does  not  possess 
in  his  shop  the  article  which  you  do  want,  to  force  you  to  buy 
from  him  something  you  do  not. 

Manilla,  like  Singapore,  owes  a  great  part  of  its  prosperity  to 
the  Chinese  portion  of  the  population ;  and,  in  our  management 
of  this  race  in  our  own  possessions,  it  might  not  be  unprofitable 
to  investigate  the  expediency  of  some  of  those  measures  which 
other  nations,  inferior  to  us  in  the  art  of  colonization  as  a  rule, 
have  found  it  necessary  to  employ.  All  the  Chinese  arriving  at 
Manilla  are  registered  and  taxed  according  to  their  occupations. 
They  are  divided  into  four  classes — merchants,  shopkeepers,  arti¬ 
sans,  and  day-laborers.  The  entire  Chinese  population  has  been 
estimated  as  high  as  30,000,  but,  according  to  a  Spanish  author, 
writing  in  1842,  “the  number  actually  enrolled  does  not  exceed 
6000,  and  their  capitation-tax  is  above  100,000  dollars  a  year, 
while  that  of  all  the  native  inhabitants,  exceeding  3,000,000,  does 
not  equal  eight  times  that  amount.”  This  taxation  is  manifestly 
excessive,  and  no  good  object  could  be  obtained  by  drawing  any 
distinction  in  our  own  possessions  between  the  Chinese  and  the 
British  subject ;  but  the  election  of  a  capitan  by  themselves,  whose 
office  it  is  to  collect  the  tribute,  and  arrange  all  internal  differ¬ 
ences,  and  who  is,  to  a  certain  extent,  responsible  for  the  goocl 
conduct  of  his  countrymen,  is  an  excellent  arrangement.  At  the 
same  time  that  the  capitan  is  elected,  his  lieutenant  and  head-con¬ 
stable  are  also  chosen  by  the  Chinese.  Were  we  to  establish  a 
good  system  of  responsible  government  among  our  Chinese  popu¬ 
lations,  and  employ  a  sufficient  staff  of  interpreters,  we  should  be 
relieved  from  apprehension  on  their  account,  and  they  from  the 
dread  of  the  consequences  with  which  we  are  apt  to  visit  them 
under  the  influence  of  that  apprehension. 

In  all  other  respects,  there  is  no  comparison  between  the  ad¬ 
vantages  held  out  to  emigrants  from  the  Celestial  Empire  by  our 
possessions — with  the  exception  of  Australia — and  those  of  other 
countries.  Not  only  are  they  exempt  from  a  poll-tax,  but  the 
rate  of  wage  is  higher  than  either  in  the  Philippines  or  Java ; 
while  the  freedom  from  commercial  restrictions,  and  the  bustling 
activity  of  an  energetic  Anglo-Saxon  community,  are  congenial  to 
that  spirit  of  commercial  enterprise  which  assimilates  the  Chinese 
to  ourselves,  and  impels  them  instinctively  to  migrate  to  those  lo- 


CHINESE  EMIGRATION :  ITS  ADVANTAGES. 


67 


calities  best  adapted  to  its  development.  This  is  most  satisfactori¬ 
ly  proved  by  the  actual  proportion  which  the  Chinese  bear  to  the 
whole  population  of  different  European  settlements,  and  which 
Mr.  Crawfurd  computes  as  follows :  “In  Java  the  Chinese  form 
the  one  hundredth  part,  and  in  the  Philippines  about  the  four 
hundredth  part  of  the  population.  In  the  British  possessions  col¬ 
lectively  the  Chinese  constitute  about  one  third  of  the  inhabitants, 
and  in  Singapore  two  thirds.” 

It  would  be  a  wise  policy  in  us  to  encourage,  to  a  greater  ex¬ 
tent  than  we  do,  Chinese  emigration  to  other  settlements  besides 
those  to  which  they  have  already  found  their  way.  Not  only 
should  we  be  able  to  retain  Labuan  as  a  colony  from  which  we 
could  exercise  an  important  influence  over  Borneo,  teeming  with 
valuable  productions,  but  we  could  make  the  little  island  itself 
profitable  by  the  introduction  of  Chinese  labor  for  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  its  mineral  resources.  It  is  not,  however,  merely  in 
the  settlements  of  the  Malay  archipelago  to  which  Chinese  em¬ 
igration  might  be  directed  and  encouraged  by  government  with 
great  advantage,  but  to  many  tropical  colonies  in  other  parts  of 
the  world,  such  as  British  Guiana,  where  there  is  an  enormous 
capacity  of  production  coupled  with  an  utter  inadequacy  of  means. 
We  must  be  careful  of  judging  of  the  results  of  Chinese  immigra¬ 
tion  by  the  experiences  of  California,  Australia,  or  any  other  col¬ 
ony  where  peculiar  conditions,  resulting  from  gold  discoveries, 
exist,  and  where  the  climate  admits  of  competition  by  whites.  It 
is  as  undesirable  that  such  a  competition  should  be  established  in 
those  countries  adapted  for  European  out-of-door  labor,  as  that 
others  should  be  deprived  of  the  benefits  of  any  such  labor  at  all 
because  the  climate  is  fatal  to  the  white  man. 

As  we  proposed  a  short  trip  into  the  interior,  for  which  pass¬ 
ports  were  necessary,  we  went  to  Government  House  to  obtain 
them,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  pay  a  visit  to  the  captain  general. 
Two  bridges,  one  of  which  is  suspension,  and  the  other  a  respect¬ 
able  structure  of  ten  arches,  span  the  Pasig,  and  connect  the  suburb 
with  the  fortified  town.  This  suburb,  or  rather  extramural  city, 
contains  a  population  of  nearly  200,000  souls;  the  walled  city  con¬ 
tains  about  10,000  people,  almost  entirely  pure  white,  and  consists 
of  eight  narrow  streets  running  at  right  angles  to  one  another, 
aristocratic  and  dull,  and  a  square  or  plaza.  In  this  the  govern¬ 
or’s  residence  is  situated,  and  from  the  windows  at  the  back  a  mag- 


(38 


THE  CAPTAIN  GENERAL  OF  THE  PHILIPPINES. 


nificent  view  of  the  harbor  is  obtained.  The  present  governor  is 
the  most  popular  and  enlightened  man  that  has  filled  the  office 
since  Don  Pascual  Enrile,  celebrated  for  having  opened  internal 
communication,  and  removed  those  restrictions  on  colonial  ship¬ 
ping  with  which,  with  their  usual  infatuated  policy,  the  Spanish 
government  retarded  the  prosperity  of  one  of  its  most  valuable 
possessions.  The  advanced  views  of  his  predecessor  have  in 
many  instances  been  improved  upon  and  carried  out  by  the  pres¬ 
ent  governor,  who  was  peculiarly  fitted  for  his  post  by  the  oppor¬ 
tunities  which  were  afforded  him,  during  the  years  he  spent  in 
political  exile  at  Manilla,  of  making  himself  acquainted  with  the 
wants  of  the  colony  at  a  time  when  he  little  thought  he  would 
ever  be  called  on  to  govern  it.  It  is  fair  to  him  to  say  that  it 
does  not  follow  that,  because  a  man  has  been  a  deportado  to  Man¬ 
illa,  he  should  have  been  guilty  of  any  act  of  treason  against  the 
existing  government.  It  is  simply  the  result  of  an  electioneering 
“dodge,”  not  unlike  some  that  have  been  recently  practiced  in 
Kansas.  The  government,  when  it  appeals  to  the  country,  begins 
by  exiling  a  large  number  of  the  probable  hostile  voters — an  ef¬ 
fectual  mode  of  counteracting  the  effects  of  the  ballot,  which  might 
be  suggested  for  adoption  by  ourselves  should  that  measure  ever 
be  introduced. 

The  captain  general  had  himself  visited  Calcutta,  and  was  deep¬ 
ly  interested  in  the  intelligence  which  we  gave  him  of  the  prog¬ 
ress  and  prospects  of  the  mutiny.  In  the  evening  we  took  a  drive 
on  the  Calzada  or  public  promenade.  Unfortunately,  it  was  too 
late  for  us  to  see  as  much  as  we  wished  of  the  fair  or  colored  oc¬ 
cupants  of  the  numerous  carriages,  which  form  two  long  lines 
throughout  the  whole  length  of  the  drive,  and  which  are  kept 
upon  their  proper  sides  by  mounted  policemen  stationed  at  inter¬ 
vals  along  the  road,  as  solemn  and  pompous,  if  not  so  gorgeous, 
as  the  sentries  at  the  Horse-Guards. 

At  Manilla,  as  in  other  Roman  Catholic  countries,  the  gayest 
day  next  to  a  feast-day  is  Sunday.  It  so  happened  that  the  Sun¬ 
day  we  were  there  was  also  a  saint’s  day — all  the  church-going 
taking  place  in  the  morning,  and  the  dancing  in  the  evening. 
The  former  begins  almost  with  the  day ;  and  the  ceremony  of  a 
military  mass  which  we  attended  involved  an  effort  of  early  ris¬ 
ing.  The  Cathedral  was  undergoing  repairs,  and  the  churches  we 
entered  were  none  of  them  remarkable  specimens  of  ecclesiastical 


» 


MILITARY  MASS. 


69 


architecture  or  ornament.  The  one  in  which  military  mass  was 
held  was  poorly  attended.  When  we  first  went  in,  a  few  pretty 
female  figures,  with  dark  complexions,  lustrous  eyes,  and  graceful 
mantillas  falling  oyer  their  shoulders,  dotted  about  in  kneeling 
attitudes,  and  old  men  mumbling  in  corners  and  crossing  them¬ 
selves,  composed  the  whole  congregation.  Then  the  clang  of 
martial  music  outside  was  followed  by  the  entry  of  two  or  three 
regiments,  the  men  uncovered,  with  their  shakoes  swinging  be¬ 
tween  their  shoulders.  Six  soldiers  with  drawn  swords  occupied 
the  altar  platform,  and,  as  the  priests  entered,  these  presented 
arms,  and  the  band  opened  the  proceedings  with  a  very  pretty 
waltz.  Indeed,  the  whole  service,  from  beginning  to  end,  was 
musical,  the  officiating  priest,  a  very  black  man,  confining  himself 
to  pantomime,  and  the  band  varying  time  according  to  his  ges¬ 
tures.  When  he  elevated  the  host  they  went  down  on  their 
knees,  and  played  an  air  very  much  resembling  a  polka,  crossing 
themselves  with  great  rapidity  in  time  to  the  music.  Then  came 
tunes  which  the  uninitiated  might  have  supposed  were  galops  or 
quadrilles.  The  whole  performance  was  entirely  devoid  of  any 
sacred  character,  and  only  lasted  about  half  an  hour.  The  sol¬ 
diers  were  a  handsome,  well  set-up  body  of  men,  in  a  neat  white 
uniform,  and  red  facings  turned  up  with  black.  The  officers  have 
nearly  all  come  out  from  Spain,  as  the  service  is  a  favorite  one, 
and  well  paid.  The  Spanish  army  in  the  Philippines  is  maintain¬ 
ed  at  about  12,000  strong.  The  last  time  they  were  employed  on 
active  service  was  in  1851,  when  a  force  of  4000  men  was  sent  to 
chastise  the  Sooloo  rajah:  this  they  accomplished  satisfactorily, 
with  a  loss  of  about  100  men.  A  contingent  of  8000  men  has 
recently  been  engaged,  in  alliance  with  the  French  forces  in  Co¬ 
chin  China,  in  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  reduce  the  king  of  that 
country  to  submission. 

We  were  rendered  independent  of  any  of  the  steamers  which, 
decked  with  flags,  were  carrying  crowds  of  gayly-dressed  pleas¬ 
ure-seekers  to  the  festa  at  Cavit5,  as  the  Kestrel  (Lieut  Kason)p 
which  had  put  into  Manilla  for  repairs,  carried  us  comfortably 
across  the  harbor  in  two  hours.  At  Cavite  are  situated  the  gov¬ 
ernment  docks ;  and  the  Spanish  commodore  came  off  to  inspect 
the  marvelous  little  craft  which  had  just  weathered  the  dangers 
of  a  passage  round  the  Cape,  and  the  minute  dimensions  of  whicli 

*  This  gallant  young  officer  was  killed  in  the  recent  attack  upon  the  Peiho  Forts. 


70 


A  RELIGIOUS  PROCESSION. 


struck  him  with  astonishment.  His  residence  was  in  the  dock, 
through  which  we  walked  on  our  way  to  the  town.  It  is  small, 
and  of  no  great  pretensions  to  strength.  Cavite  contains  about 
15,000  inhabitants ;  and,  as  evening  closed  in,  the  main  street  pre¬ 
sented  a  gay  and  brilliant  aspect.  The  houses,  although  two-sto¬ 
ried,  were  small  and  insignificant,  but  countless  lights  twinkled  in 
every  window,  and  drapery  of  gorgeous  colors  hung  from  the 
balconies,  and,  leaning  over  them,  signoritas  smoking  cigarettes 
laughingly  contemplated  the  crowd  below,  as  it  surged  to  and  fro 
in  anxious  anticipation  of  the  grand  spectacle. 

A  general  explosion  of  rockets,  and  the  martial  strains  of  a 
military  band  announced  the  start  of  the  procession.  Then  came 
the  usual  struggle  for  places  and  loss  of  pocket-handkerchiefs ; 
and  through  a  lane  in  the  crowd  passed,  first,  the  band,  then  a 
gentleman  in  black  with  a  white  tie,  who  looked  like  a  master  of 
ceremonies,  and  superintended  the  distribution  of  tapers  to  such 
of  the  crowd  as  were  disposed  to  form  part  of  the  procession. 
These  amateur  taper-bearers  formed  two  rows,  and  between  them, 
in  double  file,  toddled,  rather  than  walked,  a  number  of  miniature 
nuns  and  monks,  in  full  religious  costume,  the  oldest  of  whom 
might  have  attained  the  age  of  five  or  six.  The  shaved  crowns 
and  sandaled  feet  of  the  tiny  monks,  as  they  led  by  the  hand  with 
great  dignity  and  solemnity  their  still  smaller  sisters,  produced  a 
very  grotesque  effect,  which  was  heightened,  if  possible,  by  the 
miscellaneous  costume  of  a  crowd  of  children  that  followed,  in  the 
most  extravagant  fancy  dresses.  Then  came  the  Virgin,  carried 
by  men  screened  by  drapery,  on  a  wooden  stage,  a  perfect  mass 
of  tinsel  and  wax-lights,  followed  by  priests,  while  two  or  three 
regiments,  with  fixed  bayonets,  brought  up  the  rear.  As  soon  as 
this  display  is  over,  the  revels  of  the  night  fairly  begin.  The  ta¬ 
per-bearers,  having  escorted  the  Virgin  home,  plunge  wildly  into 
the  delights  of  fandangoes  and  cachuchas ;  every  house  is  open  to 
the  stranger,  if  he  likes  to  take  part  in  the  amusement  of  the 
evening,  and  in  almost  every  one  dancing  and  gambling  are  car¬ 
ried  on  till  the  morning  of  the  following  day,  which,  not  being 
dedicated  to  any  saint,  is  dedicated  to  a  rest  from  the  fatigues  of 
the  debauchery  committed  on  the  one  that  is. 

As  we  had  determined  to  start  the  same  night  for  the  interior, 
we  were  not  tempted  to  prolong  our  stay  at  Cavite.  Indeed,  hav¬ 
ing  in  the  most  orthodox  way  gone  through  the  whole  services 


EXCURSION  TO  THE  LAGO  DE  BAL— LOS  BANOS. 


71 


of  the  day,  we  thought  we  might  dispense  with  the  sermon ;  and 
at  midnight,  instead  of  dancing  fandangoes,  we  were  snugly  en¬ 
sconced  at  the  bottom  of  a  canoe  upon  the  Eiver  Pasig,  lulled  to 
sleep  by  the  measured  stroke  of  our  boatmen’s  paddles,  as  they 
forced  the  little  craft  rapidly  up  stream.  "We  were  accompanied 

on  our  expedition  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  G - ,  to  whose  hospitality  we 

were  indebted  during  our  stay  at  Manilla.  Daylight  found  us  in 
the  Lago  de  Bai,  under  the  lee  of  the  island  of  Talim.  Its  high 
Yolcanic  hills  were  wooded  to  the  summit,  and  indented  with 
charming  little  bays,  fringed  with  drooping  bamboos.  The  lake 
is  somewhat  in  the  shape  of  a  horse’s  hoof — a  peninsula,  at  the 
end  of  which  is  the  island  of  Talim,  forming  the  frog.  From 
here  we  stretched  across  to  the  southern  shore,  the  high  and  pre¬ 
cipitous  mountains  of  which  looked  comparatively  near,  but  to 
the  westward  the  waters  of  the  lake  formed  the  horizon.  The 
Lago  de  Bai  is  the  largest  sheet  of  fresh  water  as  yet  discovered 
in  the  Eastern  archipelago,  being  twenty-eight  miles  in  length  by 
twenty -two  in  breadth. 

Our  destination,  which  we  reached  in  time  for  a  late  breakfast, 
is  celebrated  for  some  thermal  springs,  which,  bubbling  out  of  the 
ground  almost  at  the  water’s  edge,  enable  the  weary  traveler  to 
refresh  himself  with  a  warm  bath,  though,  as  the  temperature  is 
sufficiently  high  to  boil  an  egg  in  four  minutes,  he  had  better  not 
make  rash  experiments.  In  consequence  of  these  springs,  which 
at  one  time  enjoyed  some  celebrity,  the  village  is  called  Los  Banos. 
It  consists  only  of  a  few  Indian  huts,  in  one  of  which,  elevat¬ 
ed  on  piles,  and  surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  admiring  natives, 
we  restored  exhausted  nature  preparatory  to  a  trip  to  the  island 
of  Socolme.  Fortunately,  I  had  not  seen  the  narrative  of  that 
amusing,  but  most  audacious  romancer,  La  Gironffire,  or  our  ap¬ 
petites  might  have  been  spoiled  by  the  anticipation  of  the  dangers 
to  be  encountered.  His  evidently  was.  The  Indians  had  told 
him  that  the  small  lake  in  this  island  was  infested  with  alligators, 
from  whom — so  great  was  their  voracity — “  escape  in  a  canoe  by 
rowing  quickly  was  impossible.”  “  There  was  much  good  sense,” 
says  La  Gironiere,  “  in  what  they  said,  but  we  were  never  deterred 
by  dangers  or  difficulties,”  etc.  So  he  and  his  friend,  Mr.  Lindsay, 
venture  on  the  hazardous  experiment  of  going  in  a  canoe  on  a 
lake  where  there  are  reported  to  be  alligators.  “We  had  not 
proceeded  many  yards  from  the  bank  when  we  all  experienced 


72 


THE  ROMANCE  OF  LA  GIRONIERE. — SOCOLME. 


feelings  of  alarm,  attributable,  no  doubt,  to  tbe  expectation  of  dan¬ 
ger  being  immediate,  as  well  as  the  aspect  of  the  place  which  pre¬ 
sented  itself  to  our  view.”  Then  comes  a  terrific  charge  of  alli¬ 
gators — “the  grand  drama  announced  by  the  Indians  is  about  to 
be  realized,”  etc. — “  when  Lindsay,  running  all  risks,  fires  his  gun 
direct  at  the  brute and  so  on,  in  a  strain  the  accuracy  of  which 
may  be  judged  of  from  the  fact  that  he  estimates  the  Lake  of 
Socolme  as  having  an  elevation  of  1500  feet  above  the  Lago  de 
Bai,  when  fifteen  feet  is  really  the  outside  ;  and  says  that  it u  does 
not  receive  the  rays  of  the  sun  except  when  that  luminary  is  at 
its  zenith whereas,  the  banks  in  many  parts  being  not  above 
twenty  feet  high,  and  in  only  one  place  about  200,  the  lake,  more¬ 
over,  being  at  least  two  miles  round,  it  rejoices  to  a  very  equi¬ 
table  extent  in  the  blessed  rays  of  that  “  luminary.”  We  trust, 
for  the  sake  of  La  Grironiere’s  credit  as  a  sportsman,  that  he  dis¬ 
played  as  much  courage  with  his  rifle  as  he  certainly  has  with  his 
pen.  ) 

We  paddled  round  the  margin  of  the  lake  enchanted  with  its 
loveliness,  sheltering  ourselves  from  the  noon-day  sun  under  the 
luxuriant  vegetation  which  clothes  its  banks  and  droops  into  the 
water.  Thousands  of  flying  foxes  had  chosen  for  their  retreat 
these  leafy  shades ;  their  unsightly  bodies  were  concealed  by  their 
expansive  wings,  as,  clinging  by  their  feet,  they  hung  in  dark  fes¬ 
toons  from  the  projecting  branches.  Disturbed  by  our  approach, 
they  flapped  away  over  the  lake,  but  we  soon  awoke  its  silent 
echoes  with  the  reports  of  our  guns,  and  two  or  three  of  these 
monstrous  bats  tumbled  heavily  into  the  water.  If  the  alligators 
existed  at  all,  they  evidently  had  not  recovered  from  the  panic 
which  must  have  been  created  by  La  Grironiere’s  visit.  Not  one 
ventured  to  show  the  tip  of  his  nose  above  the  water. 

We  were  loth  to  leave  this  fairy -like  scene,  and,  looking  back 
upon  it  as  we  dragged  our  canoes  over  the  narrow  strip  of  land, 
were  reminded  rather  of  a  diamond  set  in  emeralds  than  of  the 
crater  of  an  extinct  volcano.  As  it  was,  the  attractions  of  the  isl¬ 
and  of  Socolme  had  induced  us  to  linger  too  long,  for  it  was  late 
ere  we  started  on  our  return  voyage,  and  a  gale  of  wind  had 
sprung  up  in  the  mean  time  of  such  violence  that,  to  our  dismay, 
the  boatmen  at  first  refused  to  venture  on  the  traject.  An  at¬ 
tempt  which  we  insisted  on  their  making  was  not  encouraging; 
our  slight  canoe  was  no  sooner  exposed  to  the  full  force  of  the 


STORMY  VOYAGE.— TRADE  OF  MANILLA. 


73 


wind  and  waves  than  she  took  in  a  sea  which  half  filled  and  very 
nearly  upset  her,  so  that  we  were  compelled  ignominionsly  to  put 
back  to  a  ^ittle  bay,  where  a  government  felucca  was  lying,  with 
the  padrone  of  which  we  hoped  to  come  to  terms.  Unfortunately, 
though  susceptible  to  the  influence  of  dollars,  his  men  were  absent; 
so,  as  the  lady  of  our  party  was  undaunted  by  our  former  expe¬ 
rience,  we  determined  to  effect  some  improvements  upon  our  own 
little  craft,  and  tempt  the  waves  in  her  once  more.  First  we  took 
off  the  roof,  which  shut  down  on  her  sides  so  closely  as  to  give 
her  the  ominous  appearance  of  a  gigantic  coffin,  and  rendered  it 
extremely  probable  that  she  would  serve  us  in  that  capacity  in  the 
event  of  an  upset.  Then  we  added  to  and  strengthened  our  out¬ 
riggers,  reefed  our  sail  to  its  smallest  dimensions,  and  once  more 
pushed  out  into  the  lake.  Throughout  the  twelve  hours  of  a  night 
that  seemed  interminable  we  battled  with  the  waves ;  drenched  to 
the  skin,  and  seated  in  the  water  at  the  bottom  of  the  boat,  we 
chiefly  employed  ourselves  baling,  the  hats  of  the  boatmen  render¬ 
ing  good  service.  Daylight  found  us  hungry  and  rheumatic,  glid¬ 
ing  down  the  rapid  current  of  the  Pasig ;  but  our  condition  rapidly 
improved  under  the  genial  influence  of  the  morning  sun,  and  an 
hour  after  our  return  to  civilization  we  were  so  well  satisfied  with 
the  adventures  of  our  trip  that  we  forgot  its  discomforts. 

The  little  that  we  saw  of  the  interior  of  Luzon  only  made  us 
regret  the  more  that  our  limited  time  did  not  admit  of  a  more 
extended  trip.  The  island  affords  magnificent  scenery  to  the 
traveler  in  search  of  the  picturesque,  while  its  varied  productions 
offer  a  wide  and  interesting  field  for  observation.  Government, 
however,  is  chary  of  gratifying  the  curiosity  of  foreigners  in  this 
respect ;  and  the  districts  of  Cayagan  and  Gupan,  celebrated  for 
their  extensive  growth  of  tobacco,  are  not  to  be  visited  without 
some  difficulty.  Sugar-cane  is  largely  cultivated.  The  sugar, 
however,  is  only  manufactured  in  small  quantities  at  a  time  by 
the  country  people  in  a  very  primitive  manner.  It  is  remarkable 
that,  in  the  absence  of  steam,  it  should  form  one  of  the  largest  ar¬ 
ticles  of  export.  The  markets  to  which  it  is  almost  exclusively 
sent  are  England  and  Australia.  The  United  States,  on  the  other 
hand,  seem  to  monopolize  the  trade  in  hemp.  The  late  Russian 
war  had  the  effect  of  largely  raising  the  value  of  this  article  in 
Manilla.  Unmanufactured  hemp  is  burdened  with  an  export 
duty  from  which  Manilla  rope  is  free.  In  the  Philippines,  as  in 


74 


RETURN  TO  CHINA. 


all  other  colonies  of  Continental  European  powers,  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  the  magnificent  resources  of  the  country  is  cramped  by 
the  perpetuation  of  a  system  based  on  principles  of  political  econo¬ 
my  exploded  among  ourselves,  and  which  we  must  hope  can  not 
long  resist  the  pressure  of  the  enlightened  views  and  commercial 
progress  of  other  countries. 

Meantime  our  gun-boats  have  repaired  the  damages  they  have 
sustained  during  their  long  and  hazardous  voyage  from  England, 
and  are  again  ready  for  sea;  so  we  regretfully  bid  farewell  to 
Manilla,  and  once  more  shape  our  course  for  the  Celestial  Empire, 
where  events  are  in  progress  which  will  render  our  arrival  there 
with  one  of  these  useful  little  craft  in  tow  doubly  acceptable. 


ATTEMPT  OF  COUNT  POUTIATINE  TO  REACH  PEKIN.  75 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Attempt  of  Count  Poutiatine  to  reach  Pekin. — Lawless  Proceedings  in  the  Canton 
River. — Singular  native  Proclamation. — The  Hall  of  Peace  and  Patriotism. — 
Preparations  for  War. — The  Ultimatum. — Occupation  of  Honan. — Yeh’s  Answer. 
— Report  of  a  Conversation  between  the  Emperor  Ilien  Fung  and  Ki  Shuh-tsan. — 
Embarkation  on  board  the  Furious. — Disappearance  of  the  floating  Population. — 
Aspect  of  the  river  Face  of  Canton. — Expiry  of  the  Delay. — Anchorage  at  Dane’s 
Island. — Temper  of  the  Inhabitants. — Delay  of  the  Bombardment. 

The  principal  event  which  had  occurred  at  Hong  Kong  during 
our  absence  at  Manilla  was  the  departure  of  our  commander-in- 
chief,  General  Ashburnham,  for  Calcutta,  in  the  Ava,  and  the  in¬ 
stallment  of  Lord  Elgin  in  the  house  vacated  by  him  on  shore. 
The  increasing  coolness  of  the  temperature  rendered  this  change 
doubly  enjoyable.  Early  in  November  the  American  minister, 
Mr.  Reed,  arrived  in  a  frigate  of  gigantic  proportions,  and  the 
Russian  minister,  Count  Poutiatine,  in  a  paddle-wheel  steamer  of 
very  minute  dimensions.  The  latter  had  made  the  journey  over¬ 
land  from  St.  Petersburg  to  the  Amoor,  not,  however,  without 
having  applied  for  admission  to  Pekin  by  way  of  Kiahkta.  On 
this  being  refused,  he  proceeded,  on  his  own  responsibility,  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Peiho,  where  he  was  informed  that  no  communica¬ 
tion  with  the  court  of  Pekin  could  be  made  on  his  behalf  from 
that  point.  It  was,  however,  after  some  time,  conceded  to  him 
that  a  letter  would  be  forwarded  to  Pekin,  but  that,  if  he  wanted 
a  reply,  he  must  return  to  Kiahkta  and  wait  there.  Count  Pou¬ 
tiatine  refused  to  accede  to  these  terms,  and,  in  consequence,  it 
was  ultimately  arranged  that  an  answer  should  be  sent  to  him  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Peiho,  whither  he  would  return  to  receive  it. 
When  at  last,  after  an  interval  of  some  weeks,  Count  Poutiatine 
once  more  appeared  at  the  mouth  of  the  Peiho,  he  received  his 
answer,  which  consisted  of  a  refusal  to  see  him  at  Pekin,  with  an 
intimation  that  under  no  circumstances  could  the  performance  of 
the  “Kotow”  be  dispensed  with.  The  result  ol  his  experience 
had  in  fact  been  to  confirm  the  opinion  entertained  by  Lord  Elgin 
from  the  commencement,  that  nothing  could  be  done  with  the 
government  of  China  except  at  the  Peiho,  and  then  only  when  a 


76 


SINGULAR  NATIVE  PROCLAMATION. 


force  sufficient  to  strike  terror  into  the  capital,  and  of  a  descrip¬ 
tion  calculated  to  navigate  the  shallow  waters  that  lead  to  it, 
should  be  assembled  there,  to  give  irresistible  force  to  the  argu¬ 
ments  of  diplomacy. 

About  this  time  there  occurred  a  curious  illustration  of  the  vio¬ 
lent  character  of  the  more  lawless  portion  of  the  population  in¬ 
habiting  the  creeks  and  islands  of  the  Canton  River,  as  well  as  of 
their  ingenuity  in  turning  to  good  account  the  troubles  in  which 
their  country  was  involved.  The  incident  was  also  instructive, 
as  tending  to  show  how  many  and  serious  were  the  evils  to  which 
might  be  exposed  the  unfortunate  well-disposed  inhabitants,  who 
found  in  our  cruisers  but  a  poor  substitute  for  the  mandarin  and 
war  junks  which  had  formerly  protected  them,  and  which  we  had 
scared  away.  A  petition  was  sent  down  to  Lord  Elgin,  inclosing 
a  copy  of  a  notice  stated  to  have  been  widely  circulated  among 
the  people,  to  the  following  effect :  u  That,  the  British  navy  being 
now  stationed  from  Shakok  at  the  Bogue,  up  to  Shekmun,  it  is 
hereby  decreed  that,  in  return  for  the  protection  the  British  ves¬ 
sels  afford  to  the  population  against  lawless  persons  who  would 
otherwise  cut  grain  without  authority,  2  mace  per  acre  (Chinese) 
shall  be  paid  into  the  British  office,  called  the  Ning-i-Tong  (Hall 
of  Peace  and  Patriotism),  near  Nei-Tong ;  to  which  all  agricultur¬ 
ists  are  directed  to  repair  on  the  30th  or  31st  of  October,  or  1st 
of  November,  with  the  money.  On  payment  of  this,  they  will  re¬ 
ceive  a  license  to  cut  grain.  If  any  person  attempt  to  cut  or  carry 
grain  without  license,  the  vessels  of  the  Ning-i-Tong  of  Great 
Britain  will  bring  him  to  the  said  hall,  with  his  vessels,  which 
will  be  confiscated.”  Three  regulations  were  appended  to  the 
above  notice:  “  1.  For  every  acre  registered  at  the  Hall  of  Great 
Britain,  at  Nei-Tong,  license  to  reap  shall  be  issued.  2.  In  any 
case  where  the  brethren  recognize  the  seal  to  be  the  seal  of  the 
hall,  they  will  immediately  release  the  person  whom  they  may 
have  detained.  3.  Rice-junks,  from  any  village  or  fort  whatsoever, 
must  give  notice  at  the  hall,  where  their  papers  or  licenses  will 
be  vised,  for  the  prevention  of  delays.”  Mr.  Wade,  who  trans¬ 
lated  the  above,  was  requested  by  Lord  Elgin  to  put  himself  at 
once  into  communication  with  the  admiral,  for  the  purpose  of  dis¬ 
covering,  if  possible,  this  Hall  of  British  Peacemakers  and  Patriots, 
and  visit  with  the  punishment  they  deserved  those  who  had  foul¬ 
ly  wronged,  if  not  our  fair  name,  at  least  their  own  unfortunate 


PREPARATIONS  FOR  WAR. 


77 


countrymen.  Mr.  W ade  proceeded  with  a  force  to  a  building  in¬ 
dicated  by  some  country  people  as  the  hall  in  question,  where  he 
found  six  persons  in  chains,  and  some  papers,  one  of  which  stated 
that  orders  had  been  received  from  the  captain  of  the  ship  of  En¬ 
glish  barbarians  to  look  after  the  grain,  and  menacing  any  of  the 
brethren  who  should  presume  to  cut  grain  on  their  own  account. 
It  was  found  difficult  to  bring  home  the  charge  to  any  of  the  per¬ 
sons  in  the  neighborhood ;  a  comprador,  however  (or  man  whose 
business  it  was  to  supply  one  of  her  majesty’s  ships  in  the  river 
with  provisions),  was  recognized  and  taken  into  custody  in  conse¬ 
quence.  There  is  probably  no  other  country  in  the  world  but 
China  where  an  organization  upon  so  large  a  scale  could  have 
been  formed  which  would  use  for  a  protection  the  dreaded  name 
of  its  country’s  enemy,  display  for  its  banners  the  symbols  of 
peace  and  patriotism,  and  have  for  its  object  the  plunder  and 
spoliation  of  its  neighbors. 

Though  there  may  be  an  absence  of  patriotism  generally  in 
China,  patriots  can  always  be  found  here  by  paying  for  them,  as 
in  other  countries.  Thus  we  discovered  a  spy  located  at  Hong 
Kong,  whose  papers  we  seized,  and  who  kept  a  daily  record  of 
events  there,  and,  at  some  risk  to  himself,  sent  Howqua  full  in¬ 
formation  of  all  the  plans  and  rumors  of  plans  current  in  Hong 
Kong  as  to  our  movements.  Nothing  was  too  trivial  for  his  re¬ 
port  :  the  number  of  ships  in  harbor — the  daily  exercise  of  troops 
— Lord  Elgin’s  personal  appearance  and  reputed  character — the 
extent  of  our  losses  in  India,  and  the  causes  of  the  mutiny,  all 
were  minutely  but  frequently  erroneously  recorded,  and  forward¬ 
ed  by  Howqua  to  Yeh.  Some  of  the  information  was  furnished 
by  Americans  resident  at  Hong  Kong,  and  some  by  Chinese  in 
our  employ. 

Meanwhile  General  Straubenzee  had  succeeded  General  Ash- 
burnham  in  the  command-in -chief,  and  the  prospect  of  active  serv¬ 
ice  seemed  to  infuse  new  life  and  energy  into  the  feeble  and 
wasted  garrison  of  Hong  Kong.  The  one  weak  regiment  of 
which  it  consisted  was  perpetually  being  inspected  and  reviewed, 
and  exercised  in  camping  and  in  rifle  practice.  The  daily  boom¬ 
ing  of  artillery  practice,  added  to  the  constant  thundering  of  sa¬ 
lutes  from  the  ships,  as  admirals  or  plenipotentiaries  paid  or  re¬ 
ceived  visits  of  ceremony,  began  to  prepare  the  Chinese  mind  at 
Hong  Kong  for  something  more  serious  than  the  atalkee  pigeon” 


78 


THE  ULTIMATUM.— YEH’S  ANSWER. 


to  which  for  so  many  years  they  had  been  accustomed.  We 
were  now  only  waiting  for  the  last  detachment  of  marines ;  their 
arrival  early  in  December  rendered  farther  delay  unnecessary; 
and  on  the  10th  of  that  month,  Mr.  Wade,  accompanied  by  Mr. 
Marques,  proceeded  with  a  flag  of  truce  to  Canton,  and  delivered 
the  ultimata  of  the  French  and  English  plenipotentiaries  to  a  sub¬ 
ordinate  officer  sent  by  Yeh  to  receive  it. 

In  the  communication  which  the  British  minister  addressed  to 
the  imperial  commissioner  upon  this  occasion,  he  alluded  to  the 
exceptional  attitude  of  hostility  and  dislike  which  had  always 
been  maintained  by  the  authorities  and  people  of  Canton  in  their 
intercourse  with  foreigners,  as  compared  with  the  other  ports ;  to 
their  determined  refusal  to  fulfill  treaty-rights ;  to  the  constant 
quarrels  which  had  arisen  out  of  this  unsatisfactory  state  of  things ; 
and  to  the  barbarous  way  in  which  hostilities  on  the  last  occasion 
had  been  carried  on  by  the  Cantonese.  As  a  proof  that  these 
complaints  were  not  ill  founded,  or  confined  to  British  subjects 
alone,  his  excellency  adverted  to  the  recent  capture  of  the  Barrier 
Forts  which  had  been  forced  upon  the  Americans,  and  to  the  fact 
that  the  French  were  prepared  to  join  us  in  the  determination  to 
procure  reparation  for  past,  and  security  against  future  wrongs. 

The  execution  of  treaty-engagements,  and  compensation  for 
losses  sustained  by  British  subjects,  were  the  only  demands  the 
fulfillment  of  which  was  required  from  the  imperial  commission¬ 
er,  and  a  delai  fatal  of  two  days,  to  date  from  the  12th  instant,  was 
accorded :  during  this  period,  the  island  of  Honan  was  to  be  occu¬ 
pied  as  a  material  guarantee,  and  at  its  expiry,  in  the  event  of 
non-compliance,  Canton  was  to  be  taken.  In  consequence  of  the 
above  intimation,  Honan  was  successfully  occupied  on  the  15th 
instant  by  400  British  marines  and  150  French  blue-jackets,  no 
attempt  at  resistance  having  been  made  on  the  part  of  the  inhab¬ 
itants. 

On  the  following  day  Yeh’s  answer  reached  Hong  Kong.  That 
functionary  denied  that  there  was  any  difference  in  their  disposi¬ 
tion  toward  foreigners  between  the  inhabitants  of  Canton  and 
those  of  the  other  ports — denied  that  any  article  existed  in  any 
treaty  relative  to  the  opening  of  Canton;  though  the  question 
had  been  twice  raised,  he  declared  it  to  have  been  finally  aban¬ 
doned  ;  then  put  in  a  plea  in  traverse  to  the  effect  that  no  treaty 
could  force  the  people  of  Canton  to  do  what  they  did  not  like ; 


THE  EMPEROR  HIEN  FUNG  AND  KI  SHUH-TSAN. 


79 


and  recommended  Lord  Elgin  to  adopt  the  policy  pursued  by  Sir 
George  Bonham,  which  might,  as  in  his  case,  procure  him  the 
Order  of  the  Bath.  Yeh  went  on  to  recite  the  want  of  success 
which  had  attended  the  efforts  of  Sir  George  Bonham  and  Sir 
John  Bowring  to  open  a  more  direct  communication  with  the 
capital  as  an  instance  of  the  impossibility  of  opposing  the  Emper¬ 
or’s  will.  He  then  discussed  the  merits  of  the  “  Arrow  case,” 
warned  the  embassador  against  the  occupation  of  Honan  as  being 
likely  to  lead  to  hostilities,  and  concluded  by  assuring  his  excel¬ 
lency  that  all  existing  difficulties  might  be  satisfactorily  arranged 
through  the  medium  of  a  little  amicable  correspondence. 

The  following  report  of  a  conversation  between  his  Celestial 
Majesty  and  an  ex-judge  of  the  Quang-tung  province  will  throw 
some  light  upon  the  policy  of  the  emperor  and  his  commissioner 
at  Canton  upon  the  extent  of  their  acquaintance  with  barbarian 
affairs,  and  upon  the  sources  from  whence  they  derived  their  in¬ 
formation.  This  most  interesting  and  curious  document  was 
among  the  papers  found  in  Yeh’s  yamun  subsequently  to  his 
capture,  and  it  has  since  been  translated  by  Mr.  Wade: 

Report  of  a  Conversation  between  the  Emperor  Hien  Fung  and  Ki 
Shuh-tsan ,  ex- Judge  of  Kwang-tung,  in  1851. 

[The  following  is  translated  from  a  memorandum  forwarded  to 
Yeh  by  a  late  judge  of  Kwang-tung,  named  Ki  Shuh-tsan,  of  his 
conversation  with  the  Emperor  Hien  Fung,  at  the  audience  grant¬ 
ed  him,  according  to  custom,  on  his  return  to  Pekin  at  the  end  of 
his  term  of  service. 

In  his  “  Chinese  and  their  Rebellions”  (page  123  to  136),  Mr. 
Thomas  Meadows  gives  a  similar  conversation  between  the  late 
emperor  and  Pih-kwei,  the  present  governor  of  Kwang-tung,  and 
then  judge  of  the  province.  This  took  place  in  1849,  and  it  is 
remarkable  that,  toward  the  close  of  that  audience,  the  late  emper¬ 
or  asks  Pih-kwei  if  he  is  acquainted  with  the  newly-appointed 
judge,  Ki  Shuh-tsan,  and  volunteers  a  very  favorable  opinion  of 
him  as  an  honest  and  unaffected  man. 

A  great  deal  of  his  correspondence  with  Yeh  was  found  in  the 
papers  of  the  latter,  among  the  rest  the  memorandum  here  trans¬ 
lated,  and  with  it  a  note  explaining  that,  besides  the  matter  to 
which  it  relates,  the  emperor  had  put  questions  regarding  the  con¬ 
tumacy  of  the  literati  of  the  district  of  Tung-kwan,  who  had  lately 


80 


REPORT  OF  CONVERSATION  BETWEEN  THE 


manifested  their  dissatisfaction  with  the  authorities  by  refusing  to 
attend  the  examinations  for  degree,  regarding  the  alleged  miscon¬ 
duct  of  a  military  officer  who  had  been  very  backward  against 
some  Kwang-tung  outlaws ;  and,  lastly,  regarding  the  publication 
of  the  “  Sing-li  Tsing-i,”  the  “  Essence  of  Moral  Philosophy,”  and 
of  another  work,  reprints  of  which  had  been  ordered  by  his  maj¬ 
esty,  at  the  suggestion  of  a  high  official,  for  the  regeneration  of 
the  age. 

Ki  Shuh-tsan  was  younger  brother  of  Ki  Tsiun-tsan,  who  died 
not  long  since,  one  of  the  four  principal  Secretaries  of  State. — 
T.  F.  W.] 

( Translation .) 

At  my  audience  his  majesty  questioned  me  very  particularly 
respecting  my  official  career,  my  settlement,  my  family,  and  my 
life  before  and  after  I  came  to  be  employed.  I  submit  no  copy 
of  these  questions  to  your  excellency,  but  confine  myself  to  lay¬ 
ing  before  you  those  which  his  majesty  condescended  to  ask  con¬ 
cerning  Kwang-tung  affairs.  His  majesty  asked, 

Q.  Are  the  English  barbarians  quiet  at  the  present  time,  or  the 
reverse  ? 

A.  They  are  so  far  quiet. 

Q.  Will  no  trouble  be  caused  by  their  trade  at  some  future 
period  ? 

A.  In  the  nature  of  barbarians  there  is  much  to  suspect.  A 
communication  received  from  them  two  or  three  months  ago  raised 
several  questions  in  language  of  a  menacing  character.*  Seu  and 
Yeh  perfectly  understand  their  trickiness,  and  as  it  is  only  by 
being  resolute  and  positive  that  they  can  deal  with  them,  they 
employ  no  word  in  their  replies  either  more  or  less  than  is  suffi¬ 
cient  fully  to  meet  j*  what  is  said  by  the  barbarians,  and  thus  they 
are  left  without  any  thing  to  rejoin. 

Q.  Do  you  know  what  they  wrote  about  ? 

A.  In  their  administration  of  barbarian  affairs  Seu  and  Yeh 
hold  it  important  to  be  secret.  As  governor  general  and  gover¬ 
nor  they  consult  each  other  in  confidence  on  all  replies  to  be 
written  (to  barbarian  letters).  Neither  your  majesty’s  servant, 

*  Questions  they  had  no  right  to  raise;  lit.,  put  forth  shoots  not  from  the  joint : 
a  figure  from  the  bamboo-tree. 

f  To  meet,  to  controvert,  or  to  reprove. 


EMPEROR  HIEN  FUNG  AND  KI  SHUH-TSAN. 


81 


nor  his  fellow-commissioners,  nor  the  intendants,  although  resid¬ 
ing  in  the  same  city  (as  their  excellencies),  are  able  to  learn  any 
thing  beforehand.  If,  as  is  sometimes  the  case,  reference  has  to 
be  made  to  Pih-kwei,  the  Commissioner  of  Finance,  the  reply 
drafted  by  him  has  again  to  be  considered  and  approved  by 
them ;  and  on  such  occasions,  when  the  question  has  been  dis¬ 
posed  of,  Seu  and  Yeh  are  sure  to  communicate  it  to  your  serv¬ 
ant,  and  to  the  rest  as  well.  In  former  times,  when  barbarian 
affairs  were  in  process  of  administration,  news  has  reached  bar¬ 
barian  quarters  even  before  the  event ;  but,  nowadays,  not  even 
those  who  are  constantly  about  Seu  and  Yeh  can  obtain  informa¬ 
tion  of  the  measures  they  are  considering,  and  so  the  barbarians 
can  ascertain  nothing ;  while  we,  on  the  other  hand,  are  accurately 
informed  of  all  that  affects  their  countries. 

Q.  How  are  you  informed  of  what  passes  in  their  countries  ? 

A.  In  foreign  parts  (lit.,  in  the  outer  seas)  there  are  newspa¬ 
pers.  In  these  every  thing  that  concerns  any  nation  is  minutely 
recorded,  and  these  we  have  it  in  our  power  to  procure.  And  as 
the  barbarians  can  not  dispense  with  our  people  in  the  work  of 
interpretation,  Seu  and  Yeh  manage  to  make  their  employes  fur¬ 
nish  them  privately  every  month  with  all  particulars.  We  are 
thus  enabled  to  know  every  thing  that  concerns  them. 

Q.  How  is  it  that  persons  in  barbarian  employ  will,  notwith¬ 
standing,  furnish  us  with  intelligence  ? 

A.  It  merely  costs  a  few  hundred  dollars  more  a  year  to  be¬ 
stow  rewards  upon  them.  For  these  they  are  well  pleased  to 
serve  us.  Then,  again,  if  the  news  received  from  any  one  quar¬ 
ter  appears  unsatisfactory,  there  is  more  sent  in  from  other  quar¬ 
ters,  and  if  the  reports  from  different  quarters  agree,  the  informa¬ 
tion  is  of  course  entitled  to  full  credit. 

Q.  Are  their  newspapers  in  their  barbarian  character  or  in  our 
Chinese  character? 

A.  They  are  translations  into  Chinese.* 

Q.  Flave  you  seen  those  papers  ? 

A.  In  the  campaign  in  Tsing-yuen  last  winter  Yehf  received 
some,  which  he  gave  me  to  look  at. 

Q.  What  did  they  say  ? 

*  That  is,  the  papers  he  has  seen,  as  will  appear  directly. 

f  Yeh  was  then  Governor  of  Kwang-tung,  and  was  absent  from  Canton  four 
months,  endeavoring  to  put  down  outlaws  or  rebels  in  Tsing-yuen  and  Ning-teh. 

F 


82 


REPORT  OF  CONVERSATION  BETWEEN  THE 


A.  Your  servant  remembers  one  circumstance.  The  English 
were  at  war  with  Bengal.*  A  Bengal  man-of-war  wanted  to  pass 
through  English  territory  to  attack  (lit.,  trouble,  have  a  row  with) 
some  other  nation ;  the  English  authorities!  refused  her  a  pas¬ 
sage.  Both  sides  opened  a  fire,  in  which  an  English  ship  was 
sunk,  and  a  large  number  of  the  managing  heads  (directors)  kill¬ 
ed.  The  sovereign  of  their  state  assembled  the  chief  persons  (lit., 
the  head  eyes)  in  the  chamber  where  business  is  discussed  (sc.,  the 
House  of  Parliament).  It  was  there  proposed  (by  some)  to  speak 
reason  to  (or  argue  the  point  with)  Bengal,  but  by  others  to  raise 
a  force  and  take  satisfaction.  Your  servant  has  also  been  told 
by  Yeh  that,  in  the  different  letters  which  have  come  from  the 
sovereign  of  the  state  to  Bonham,  he  has  always  been  directed  to 
trade  with  China  in  a  friendly  spirit,  and  not  to  be  troublesome 
(or  meddlesome).  It  is  also  said  that,  in  reward  for  his  adminis¬ 
tration  of  commercial  intercourse,  Bonham  was  presented  by  the 
sovereign  of  the  state  with  a  decoration  called  u  O-ta-pa”  (Order 
of  the  Bath),  a  thing  somewhat  of  the  same  sort  as  the  ancient 
red  gold-fish  purse4  Bonham  is  well  pleased  with  this.  He  pa¬ 
rades  it  with  pride ;  it  will  prevent  him  from  making  any  more 
difficulties. 

Q.  How  did  the  barbarians  put  their  alleged  grievances  in  the 
letter  received  from  them  ? 

A.  When  your  servant  returned  to  Canton  from  the  Tsing- 
yuen  campaign  to  lay  down  his  office,  he  was  told  by  Seu  and 
Yeh  that  in  the  third  moon  Bonhamg  had  written  to  say  that,  as 
there  was  no  great  market  for  goods  at  two  of  the  five  ports, 
namely,  in  Cheh-kiang  and  Fuh-kien,  he  wanted  to  exchange  the 
two  ports  in  question  for  two  others.  Hang-chow  and  Soo-chow 
would  both  answer  the  purpose ;  but,  if  this  could  not  be,  Chin- 
kiang  would  do.  If  Chin-kiang  was  also  impossible,  his  ships  of 
war  would  be  obliged  to  go  to  Tien-tsin.  Seu  and  Yeh  replied 
that  trade  at  the  five  ports  having  been  long  settled  by  treaty,  no 
change  could  be  made ;  that,  besides  this,  there  was  a  fixed  quan¬ 
tity  of  goods  sold  in  China  every  year,  the  amount  of  which  did 

*  Birmah  is  probably  meant. 

f  Lit.,  those  of  the  English  barbarians  who  manage  their  affairs.  This  is  very 
likely  a  translation  of  the  term  “Directors  of  the  East  India  Company.” 

t  An  ornament  or  decoration  of  ancient  date. 

§  He  alludes  to  Sir  George  Bonham’s  letters,  under  instructions  from  the  Foreign 
Office,  written  April  19,  1851,  in  which  an  exchange  of  ports  was  proposed. 


EMPEROR  HIEN  FUNG  AND  KI  SHUIi-TSAN. 


83 


not  depend  on  the  number  of  ports,  more  or  less.  Take  the 
trade,  they  said,  as  it  was  before  the  five  ports  were  opened,  and 
has  been  since  that  event,  and  a  calculation  of  the  profits  and  loss¬ 
es  of  different  parties  will  convince  you  (of  this).  If,  with  a  good 
understanding  existing  between  our  two  nations,  your  men-of-war 
attempt  to  go  up  to  Tien-tsin,  it  is  on  your  side  that  the  quarrel 
will  have  been  commenced ;  no  blame  will  attach  to  us.  Since 
this  reply  was  sent,  no  letter  has  been  received  from  them. 

Q.  Who  has  charge  of  barbarian  affairs  besides  Bonham  ? 

A.  Your  servant  has  been  told  that  Bonham  is  the  governor- 
in-chief  (lit.,  general  head  of  the  troops).  Besides  him  there  are 
Ghitzlaff  and  Meadows.  Gutzlaff  was  a  practiced  machinator 
when  he  was  in  China  before.*  This  time,  it  is  said,  the  ruler  of 
the  state  makes  him  confine  his  attention  to  commercial  affairs, 
and  does  not  allow  him  to  meddle  (with  politics). 

Q.  Are  the  other  trading  nations  on  good  terms  with  the  En¬ 
glish  barbarians  ? 

A.  When  the  English  barbarians  gave  trouble  some  time  since 
(sc.  1839-42),  different  nations  assisted  them.  In  the  sequel  it  is 
said  the  English  barbarians  became  deeply  indebted  to  other  na¬ 
tions  for  shipping,  the  value  of  which  they  have  been  unable  to 
recover  from  them ;  hence  a  good  deal  of  misunderstanding.  The 
other  tribes,  are  jealous,  too,  of  the  English  barbarians  for  having 
carried  their  point  (sc.  with  China) ;  and  so,  although  so  far  as  out¬ 
ward  appearances  go,  they  trade  together  amicably,  each  party  is, 
in  fact,  considering  his  own  interests,  and  no  cordial  understand¬ 
ing  is  possible. 

Q.  Are  the  French  quiet  in  Kwang-tung  ? 

A.  The  French  continue  to  give  no  trouble  in  Kwang-tung. 
But  it  is  said  that,  with  the  exception  of  trade,  what  they  most 
prize  is  the  teaching  of  their  doctrine. 

Q.  What  people  practice  their  doctrine  in  general  ?  Are  there 
licentiates  and  graduates  among  them  ? 

A.  It  is  the  common  (lit,  the  little  people)  who  have  no  sense. 
All  that  they  hear  of  the  question  is  that,  by  the  practice  of  vir¬ 
tue,  they  may  look  for  happiness, f  and  so  the  chances  are  that  they 

*  Mr.  Gutzlaff,  then  Chinese  Secretary,  returned  to  China  in  January,  1851,  and 
died  in  August. 

f  Confucianism  does  not  teach  men  to  he  virtuous  only  in  the  hope  of  a  reward. 
It  is  corrupt  Buddhism,  and  other  superstitions,  which  set  the  people  propitiating 
good  fortune. 


84 


REPORT  OF  CONVERSATION  BETWEEN  THE 


are  mystified  by  them.  Licentiates  and  graduates,  inasmuch  as 
they  have  rather  more  reading  and  acquaintance  with  philosophy, 
which  makes  them  respect  themselves,  are,  of  course,  not  to  be  so 
deluded.  Your  servant  has  never  heard  that  such  persons  had 
embraced  their  doctrine. 

Q.  Have  there  been  any  prosecutions  for  the  profession  of  the 
doctrine  in  Kwang-tung  as  well  ?* 

A.  Your  servant  has  heard  that  some  time  ago  there  were  some. 
There  had  been  none  from  the  time  of  his  arrival  last  year  until 
the  fourth  moon  of  the  present,  when  Yeh  wrote  to  him,  confi¬ 
dentially,  to  the  effect  that,  in  the  district  of  Ying-teh,  Li  San- wan 
was  reported  to  be  playing  the  Great  King  of  the  Bed  men,f  and 
that  in  his  behalf  certain  recreant  graduates,  already  degraded  with 
vagabonds  and  others,  had  privily  leagued  themselves  with  yamun 
followers  and  soldiers,  most  of  whom  were  professing  the  doctrine ; 
and  he  desired  your  servant  to  send  a  subordinate  to  make  secret 
investigation.  Your  servant  did  send  a  subordinate,  who  'went 
through  the  district  from  village  to  village  in  disguise,  making  in¬ 
quiries  for  a  month  and  more,  but  without  any  positive  evidence 
of  the  fact.  In  the  fifth  moon  your  servant  handed  over  his  office 
to  Tsui-tung,  who  again  sent  to  make  inquiry  in  every  part  of  the 
Ung-yuen  and  Kiuh-kiang  districts.  When  your  servant  left  Can¬ 
ton  the  officer  sent  had  not  returned,  and  he  can  not  say  what  steps 
were  subsequently  taken. 

Q.  Is  not  the  doctrine  of  the  Lord  of  Heaven;];  also  preached 
in  Shan  Si  ? 

A.  It  is.  When  your  servant  was  a  licentiate,  and  superintend¬ 
ing  instruction  in  the  district  of  Hung-tung,  in  Ping-yang  Fu,  the 
outlaw,  Tsau  Shun,  and  others,  murdered  the  authorities  in  the 
city  of  Chau,  and  took  the  city  itself.  Hung-tung  being  but  thirty 
li  from  Chau,  we  were  on  the  alert  night  and  day,  and  one  day  a 
confidential  dispatch  was  received  from  the  prefect  of  Ping-yang 
stating  that  in  the  street  of  the  Shang-kia,  in  the  city  of  Hung- 
tung,  persons  were  propagating  the  doctrine,  proselytizing,  preach- 

*  His  majesty  probably  means  “  as  well”  as  in  Kwang-si,  although  little  if  any  no¬ 
tice  had  as  yet  been  taken  by  the  court  of  the  troubles  there.  The  word  I  translate 
“  prosecution”  includes  the  infliction  of  the  penalty. 

f  The  rebels  have  long  been  known  as  the  “red  head  men,”  from  their  turbans. 
The  “red”  here  used  is,  however,  a  different  character. 

X  Here  written  “  Tien  tsu  kiau,”  doctrine  of  the  Grandfather  of  Heaven.  “  Tien 
elm  kiau”  is  evidently  meant.  It  is  the  style  by  which  Christianity,  as  taught  by 
the  Romanist  missionaries,  is  known. 


EMPEROR  KIEN  FUNG  AND  KI  SHUH-TSAN. 


85 


ing  observances,  and  reciting  canonical  books ;  and  desiring  that, 
as  they  were  very  probably  in  league  with  the  bad  characters  of 
Chau,  they  should  be  secretly  arrested.  On  this,  the  district  magis¬ 
trate,  in  co-operation  with  the  military,  seized  a  Chih-li  man  sur- 
named  W ang,  who  was  preaching  the  doctrine  there,  and  on  whose 
person  was  found  a  crucifix  and  some  bool^s  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
Lord  of  Heaven,  all  in  European  characters  (lit.,  characters  of  the 
Western  seas).  After  this,  all  persons  teaching  or  professing  the 
doctrine  were  proceeded  against  according  to  law. 

Q.  And  what  did  their  books  say  ? 

A.  Your  servant  saw  that,  besides  others,  there  were  some  books 
copied  in  our  Chinese  character,  which  were  all  about  Jesus.  Jesus 
was  the  person  who  was  nailed  on  the  cross.  They  purported  to 
exhort  people  to  be  virtuous,  to  keep  the  heart  good,  and  to  do 
good  actions.  But  there  is  great  unanimity  (or  community  of 
opinion)  among  the  professors  of  the  doctrine ;  and  though,  under 
ordinary  circumstances,  while  people  of  no  intelligence  do  no  more 
than  observe  fasts  in  the  hope  of  obtaining  happiness,  it  can  do  no 
great  harm,  if,  in  the  course  of  time,  a  single  remarkable  person 
should  appear  (among  its  professors),  he  would  be  almost  certain 
to  create  trouble  by  inflaming  and  deluding  (the  public). 

Q.  Have  you  ever  seen  the  barbarian  buildings  at  Hong  Kong  ? 

A.  Your  servant  has  not  seen  them.  Those  in  the  foreign  fac¬ 
tories  on  the  Canton  River  he  has  seen,  but  he  has  never  been  into 
them. 

Q.  Have  you  seen  any  barbarians  or  barbarian  ships  ? 

A.  Your  servant  has  seen  a  Flowery  Flag  (sc.  American)  steam¬ 
er  on  the  Canton  River.  There  were  barbarians  on  board  the 
vessel,  all  dressed  in  white,  both  men  and  women.  But  she  was 
too  far  off  your  servant’s  vessel  for  him  to  see  them  well. 

Q.  What  nation  is  the  Flowery  Flag? 

A.  The  American.  The  trade  of  the  nation  is  very  great ;  it 
•  is  very  rich  and  powerful,  and  yet  not  troublesome. 

Q.  How  is  it  that  America  is  rich  and  powerful,  and  yet  not 
troublesome  ? 

A.  As  a  general  rule,  the  outer  barbarians  trade,  because  their 
nature  is  so  covetous.  If  one  of  them  breaks  the  peace  (makes 
trouble),  the  prosperity  of  the  other’s  trade  is  marred.  Thus  the 
English  are  at  this  moment  beggared;*  but  if  they  were  to  break 

*  And  therefore,  he  means,  not  likely  to  go  to  war. 


86 


EMBARKATION  ON  BOARD  THE  EURIOUS. 


the  peace,  it  is  not  on  their  own  trade  alone  that  inj  ury  would  be 
inflicted:  other  nations  are  therefore  certain  to  object  to  any  out¬ 
rageous  proceeding  on  their  part.  Were  they  to  commence  a 
disturbance,  the  Americans  would  certainly  be  the  last  to  assist 
them. 

Q.  Why  would  not  the  Americans  assist  them  ? 

A.  Your  servant  has  been  told  that  the  Americans  have  bus¬ 
iness  relations  of  great  importance  with  Wu  Sung-yau  (How-qua), 
formerly  a  hong  merchant  of  Quang-tung ;  indeed,  that  they  have 
had  money  of  Wu.  Every  movement  of  the  English  barbarians 
is  certain  to  be  privately  communicated  to  the  family  of  Wu  by 
the  Americans,  and  Wu  Sung-yau  therefore  makes  his  private  re¬ 
port  to  Seu  and  Yeh,  who  take  precautionary  measures  according¬ 
ly.  Thus,  last  year,  it  was  by  a  communication  from  the  Amer¬ 
icans  that  it  was  known  that  a  man-of-war  of  the  English  bar¬ 
barians  was  coming  to  Tien-tsin  (the  Peiho).  Not  that  this  shows 
any  sincere  friendship  for  us  on  the  part  of  the  Americans  :  it  was 
simply  that  their  desire  for  gain  is  strong,  and  that  they  were 
afraid  that  their  trade  would  be  disturbed  by  (the  act  of)  the  En¬ 
glish.* 

In  the  absence  of  the  Shannon,  the  Furious  had  been  placed  at 
Lord  Elgin’s  disposal.  Her  very  light  draught  of  water  rendered 
her  a  much  more  available  ship  for  the  purpose  than  the  Shannon, 
while  Captain  Osborn  spared  no  effort  or  personal  sacrifice  to  fit 
her  up  as  comfortably  as  possible  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
mission.  On  the  17th  we  all  embarked  on  board  this  good  ship, 
which  was  destined  to  be  our  floating  home  for  the  following 
,  eighteen  months,  and  proceeded  up  the  river  to  Blenheim  Reach, 
where  Baron  Gros  with  the  French  fleet  were  already  assembled. 
It  appeared  that  the  communication  of  Yeh  to  the  French  em¬ 
bassador  was  couched  in  the  same  stubborn  and  unyielding  tone 
as  that  which  he  had  addressed  to  Lord  Elgin ;  it  was  therefore 
determined,  at  a  conference  held  on  board  the  Audacieuse,  that, 
in  consequence  of  the  unsatisfactory  nature  of  the  imperial  com¬ 
missioner’s  replies,  the  matter  should  be  placed  in  the  hands  of 
the  naval  and  military  authorities,  but  that  a  few  days’  grace 

*  The  remainder  of  this  most  curious  and  interesting  document  is  to  be  found  in 
the  Bine  Book.  I  have  been  induced  to  make  this  extract  here,  because  it  illustrates 
in  a  remarkable  manner  the  position  we  held  in  the  eyes  of  the  Chinese  authorities, 
and  the  views  by  which  they  were  influenced  in  their  dealings  with  us. 


DISAPPEARANCE  OF  FLOATING  POPULATION.  87 

should  be  allowed  after  the  expiry  of  the  delai fatal ,  so  as  to  afford 
some  opportunity  to  the  inhabitants  of  escaping. 

I  took  advantage  of  the  return  of  the  admiral  up  the  river  to 
accompany  him  to  Honan.  Three  miles  after  passing  Macao  Fort, 
the  former  limit  of  our  explorations  up  the  river,  we  rounded  the 
point  of  Honan  Island,  and  the  scene  became  novel  and  interest¬ 
ing.  The  most  striking  feature  in  it  was  the  entire  absence  on 
the  part  of  the  Chinese  of  any  preparations  to  meet  the  attack 
which  they  must  have  been  anticipating ;  much  less  did  they  offer 
any  active  resistance  to  the  occupation  of  the  pack-houses  in  Ho¬ 
nan  by  our  troops,  or  molest  the  men-of-war  which  had  been  quiet¬ 
ly  moored  in  front  of  the  city  wall,  within  150  yards  of  the  guns 
upon  it.  The  instincts  of  self-preservation  seemed  to  extend  only 
to  the  floating  population,  which  had  simultaneously  disappeared 
on  the  arrival  of  the  ships,  and  taken  refuge  in  the  numerous 
creeks  with  which  the  country  is  intersected.  Still,  even  these 
had  not  wholly  vanished,  and  every  now  and  then  I  was  startled 
by  seeing  a  two-storied  mansion,  with  verandas  and  a  tiled  roof, 
which  appeared  to  be  the  last  house  of  a  street,  deliberately  de¬ 
tach  itself  from  its  neighbors,  and  float  complacently  down  the 
stream  to  some  secure  aquatic  retreat.  In  this  manner  about  half 
a  million  of  people  had  moved  to  other  waters ;  how  they  man¬ 
aged  to  subsist  when  they  got  there  remains  a  mystery.  Probably 
they  adopted  the  Peace  and  Patriotic  line. 

The  point  of  Honan  Island  was  admirably  adapted  to  the  pur¬ 
pose  for  which  it  was  designed.  The  pack-houses  were  spacious 
oblong  buildings  of  solid  construction,  extending  from  the  water’s 
edge  back  to  a  narrow  lane.  On  the  opposite  side  of  this  was  a 
row  of  mean  cottages,  and  in  rear  of  them  an  extensive  mud  flat 
separated  our  troops  from  a' populous  Chinese  suburb.  Many  of 
these  pack-houses  contained  tea,  sweetmeats,  and  other  articles  of 
export,  which  were  being  rapidly  transported  by  Chinese  coolies, 
under  the  superintendence  of  their  owners.  The  ginger,  cumquots, 
and  other  preserves,  often,  however,  proved  too  strong  a  tempta¬ 
tion  for  our  men,  and  their  smeared  faces  and  sticky  fingers  gave 
indisputable  evidence  that  they  had  made  the  jars  pay  toll  as  they 
passed.  In  the  evening,  when  the  lofty  warehouses  were  lit  up 
by  numerous  large  fires  made  upon  the  stone  floor,  round  which 
were  collected  groups  of  hard-visaged  men,  the  scene  was  animated 
and  picturesque,  and  would  have  been  by  no  means  of  a  consol- 


88 


ASPECT  OF  THE  RIVER  FACE  OF  CANTON. 


atory  character  to  the  Chinese  authorities  had  they  been  there  to 
witness  it. 

On  the  following  day  I  visited  a  party  of  engineers  engaged  in 
erecting  a  mortar  battery  on  the  Dutch  Folly.  A  large  crowd 
were  collected  on  the  city  bank  of  the  river  watching  their  oper¬ 
ations,  and  men  were  stationed  as  look-outs  on  stages  erected  for 
the  purpose  above  the  roofs  of  the  houses.  I  ascended  one  of  the 
trees  on  the  little  island,  and  looked  over  the  yamun  of  the  im¬ 
perial  commissioner,  not  a  hundred  and  fifty  yards  distant.  Can¬ 
ton  presents  a  most  ragged  appearance  from  this  point :  the  river 
bank  was  strewn  with  the  debris  of  houses,  the  result  of  the  bom¬ 
bardment  and  fires  of  the  previous  year ;  the  site  of  the  foreign 
factory  was  covered  with  heaps  of  rubbish ;  half-demolished  houses 
reared  gaunt  gables  above  their  prostrate  neighbors ;  and  miser¬ 
able  hovels,  which  enterprising  paupers  had  erected  upon  spots 
too  exposed  for  the  taste  of  the  legitimate  owner,  only  added  to 
the  dilapidated  aspect  of  the  town.  Nevertheless,  people  passed 
briskly  to  and  fro  along  the  river  margin,  and  were  ferried  across 
under  the  guns  of  our  ships.  I  counted  from  one  of  these,  the 
Cruiser,  seven  guns  on  the  city  wall,  the  muzzles  of  which  were 
directed  so  as  to  cover  her  deck.  In  the  afternoon  Lord  Elgin 
passed  the  town  in  a  gun-boat,  and  was  as  much  struck  by  the 
desolate  appearance  of  the  city  as  by  the  apathetic  indifference  of 
its  inhabitants. 

On  the  21st,  being  the  day  before  the  expiry  of  the  delay  ac¬ 
corded  in  the  ultimatum,  a  conference  was  held  at  Whampoa,  by 
the  plenipotentiaries  and  naval  and  military  commanders-in-chief 
relative  to  the  place  of  attack  and  the  preliminary  arrangements. 
On  the  24th  it  was  intimated  to  Yeh  by  the  allied  plenipoten¬ 
tiaries  that,  the  delay  having  expired,  they  had  called  upon  the 
naval  and  military  commanders  to  act,  and  Lord  Elgin  stated  that 
he  “reserved  to  himself  the  right  to  make,  on  behalf  of  the  British 
government,  such  additional  demands  as  the  altered  condition  of 
affairs,  produced  by  the  imperial  commissioner’s  refusal  to  accede 
to  terms  of  accommodation,  may  seem  in  his  eyes  to  justify.”  At 
the  same  time  Yeh  also  received  a  summons  from  the  allied  com¬ 
manders-in-chief,  stating  that  it  was  their  intention  to  attack  the 
town  at  the  expiration  of  forty-eight  hours  if  it  was  not  surren¬ 
dered  within  that  time.  In  a  communication  addressed  in  reply 
to  Lord  Elgin’s  dispatch,  the  imperial  commissioner  recurred  to 


ANCHORAGE  AT  DANE’S  ISLAND. 


89 


the  “  Arrow  case,”  and  adverted  at  length  to  the  points  discussed 
in  his  former  letter,  without  manifesting  the  slightest  alteration 
in  his  tone,  or  in  the  tenor  of  his  sentiments  generally.  Mean¬ 
while,  for  many  days  past,  Mr.  Parkes  had  been  occupied  in  post¬ 
ing  up  proclamations,  both  at  Honan  and  along  the  river  face  of 
the  city,  at  considerable  personal  risk,  advising  the  inhabitants  to 
leave  the  city  during  the  approaching  bombardment;  but  the 
very  indifference  with  which  they  collected  round  the  placards, 
and  the  contempt  for  them  they  occasionally  manifested  by  tear¬ 
ing  them  down,  only  proved  how  insensible  they  were  to  the 
coming  danger,  and  how  hopeless  it  was  to  expect  that  these 
warnings  would  produce  any  effect. 

Up  to  this  time  we  had  been  anchored  at  Whampoa,  close  un¬ 
der  Dane’s  Island,  and  our  principal  amusement  was  rambling 
over  that  picturesque  spot;  though  not  above  five  miles  in  cir¬ 
cumference,  the  island  was  broken  into  hill,  and  dale,  and  fertile 
glens,  where  a  rural  population  lived  peaceably  amid  all  the 
troubles,  and  seemed  utterly  indifferent  as  to  the  fate  of  their 
provincial  city.  Indeed,  many  of  them  who  had  suffered  severe¬ 
ly  by  the  interruption  of  trade  rather  hoped  for  our  success  than 
otherwise ;  and  in  one  of  the  villages  we  met  a  man  who  had 
formerly  lived  at  Whampoa,  and  spoke  a  little  English,  who  as¬ 
sured  us  that  he  expressed  a  sentiment  very  common  among  his 
countrymen  when  he  said,  “You  takee  Canton  chop  chop,  my  no 
gotchie  money.”  He  moreover  told  us  that  the  army  had  not 
been  paid  for  two  months,  and  were  very  discontented,  and  that 
the  authorities  were  really  as  well  convinced  as  he  was  of  our 
power  to  take  the  city.  It  was  not,  however,  prudent  to  enter  in¬ 
discriminately  into  villages.  Although  at  Dane’s  Island  we  found 
the  people  well  disposed,  some  members  of  the  French  embassy 
had  not  been  so  well  received  on  Whampoa  Island,  and  had  not 
found  it  safe  to  extend  their  rambles  very  far  from  their  ships ; 
under  all  circumstances,  it  was  desirable  to  take  our  evening  walks 
armed  with  revolvers. 

We  celebrated  Christmas  day  by  taking  up  the  position  which 
the  Furious  was  destined  to  occupy  during  the  remainder  of  our 
stay  in  the  river,  with  the  view  of  getting  as  near  Canton  as  her 
draught  of  water  would  admit.  Captain  Osborn  pushed  her  past 
the  Barrier  Forts  until  her  nose  was  buried  in  the  mud ;  and  from 
her  main-top  a  panoramic  view  was  obtained  of  the  city,  and  that 


» 


90  DELAY  OF  THE  BOMBARDMENT. 

portion  of  the  surrounding  country  which  was  shortly  to  be  the 
scene  of  the  military  and  naval  operations.  The  Primauguet,  in 
which  Baron  Gros  had  taken  up  his  temporary  habitation,  was 
anchored  immediately  astern  of  us.  Though  by  the  terms  of  the 
summons  the  bombardment  ought  to  have  commenced  on  the 
26th,  preparations  were  not  sufficiently  completed  until  the  28th. 
It  will  thus  be  seen  that  every  opportunity  was  afforded  to  the 
authorities  to  yield,  and  to  the  people  to  provide  for  their  own 
safety  and  the  security  of  their  property. 


>) 


LANDING  OF  THE  TROOPS. 


91 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Landing  of  the  Troops. — Advance  on  Lin’s  Fort. — Treacherous  Mode  of  Warfare. 
— Capture  of  Lin’s  Fort. — Attack  of  the  Braves. — Position  for  the  Night. — The 
Bombardment  is  continued. — Death  of  Captain  Bate. — Skirmish  with  Braves. — 
Escalade  of  the  Walls  of  Canton. — Aspect  of  the  City. — Scene  from  Magazine 
Hill. — Capture  of  the  City. — Capture  of  Gough’s  Fort. — Chinese  Looting-parties. 
— Tartar  Garrison  of  Canton. — Condition  of  the  public  Buildings. — Explosion  of 
a  Magazine.  • 

On  the  27th  we  were  able  to  perceive,  from  our  post  of  observa¬ 
tion,  Major  Clifford,  Quartermaster  General,  landing  with  a  party 
composed  of  two  companies  of  the  59th,  under  Major  Bannister, 
with  the  Engineers,  to  prepare  stages  for  the  disembarkation  of 
the  troops  and  guns  on  the  following  morning.  The  outposts, 
which  were  kept  by  the  59th,  and  extended  for  about  half  a  mile 
into  the  interior,  were  unmolested  during  the  night.  In  conse¬ 
quence  of  the  shallowness  of  the  water  in  the  creek,  the  landing 
was  fixed  for  nine  o’clock  on  the  following  day,  that  being  the 
earliest  hour  at  which  the  tide  would  serve  for  our  gun-boats. 
The  French,  however,  being  in  ships’  boats,  reached  the  landing- 
stages  first,  and  requested  General  Straubenzee  to  allow  them  to 
disembark,  to  which  he  acceded.  Before  their  disembarkation 
was  completed,  the  rest  of  the  59th  and  artillery  arrived  in  the 
gun-boats,  and  as  soon  as  the  59th  were  landed,  they  and  the 
French  naval  brigade  moved  up  toward  Lin’s  Fort,  the  original 
party  under  Major  Bannister  being  in  advance.  As  I  observe  in 
the  French  papers  that  our  gallant  allies  have  claimed  some  credit 
for  being  the  first  to  land  on  the  28th,  it  is  only  fair  to  state  the 
amount  of  risk  they  incurred  in  landing  at  a  spot  which  had  been 
in  our  possession  since  the  previous  day. 

From  our  exalted  position  we  had  a  splendid  view  of  the  com¬ 
mencement  of  the  bombardment,  which  began  shortly  after  day¬ 
light,  and  continued  without  intermission  for  twenty -seven  hours. 
Ten  o’clock  was  fixed  as  the  hour  for  the  landing  of  the  blue¬ 
jackets  of  the  Furious  under  Captain  Osborn ;  and  I  was  glad  to 
avail  myself,  by  accompanying  him,  of  the  opportunity  afforded 
of  being  an  eye-witness,  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances, 
of  all  the  operations. 


92 


TREACHEROUS  MODE  OF  WARFARE. 


Thanks  to  the  exertions  of  the  Sappers,  a  very  fair  road  had 
been  made  through  the  village  near  the  landing-place.  After 
passing  through  it,  we  met  a  wounded  man  of  the  59th,  and  two 
wounded  men  of  the  French  naval  brigade — the  first  evidence  of 
any  active  resistance  having  been' offered  to  our  progress.  These 
men  had  been  wounded  in  a  slight  skirmish  which  had  resulted 
in  the  precipitate  retreat  of  the  Chinese.  Meeting  Loch,  who  was 
temporarily  attached  to  the  general’s  staff,  in  the  village,  I  push¬ 
ed  on  with  him  as  quickly  as  possible  to  the  front.  As  we  pro¬ 
ceeded,  the  country  became  very  broken ;  small  hillocks,  covered 
with  graves,  were  surrounded  by  dry  paddy-fields,  by  which  their 
slopes  were  sometimes  terraced.  It  was  just  the  country  for 
skirmishing  in ;  and,  had  not  our  enemy  been  contemptible,  they 
might  have  harassed  us  seriously  as  we  advanced.  As  it  happen¬ 
ed,  what  little  danger  there  was  arose  rather  from  a  species  of 
treachery  than  from  open  warfare.  Captain  Hackeft  of  the  59th, 
while  carrying  a  message,  was  suddenly  surrounded  in  the  village 
above  mentioned,  only  a  short  time  after  we  had  left  it,  and  his 
head  was  cut  off  within  sight  of  his  own  men,  who  succeeded  in 
killing  one  of  the  assassins,  and  capturing  the  other.  This  man 
was  brought  up  to  head-quarters,  and  hung  the  same  evening. 
The  man  of  the  59th  we  had  met  told  us  he  had  been  shot  from 
behind  a  hedge  after  he  had  passed  it.  Indeed,  it  was  very  diffi¬ 
cult  to  know  whom  to  regard  as  enemies,  and  whom  to  ignore  as 
such.  The  hills  were  crowded  with  spectators  watching  our  pro¬ 
ceedings  ;  yet  it  was  only  natural  to  suppose  that  every  villager 
was  an  enemy  at  heart,  though  they  did  not  venture  on  open  war¬ 
fare,  or  seem  to  anticipate  our  considering  them  in  the  light  of 
foes. 

We  found  the  front  about  a  mile  from  the  village,  and,  when 
we  arrived,  the  French  and  English  admirals  and  General  Strau- 
benzee  were  seated  at  luncheon  in  a  grave.  The  advance  had 
pushed  on  so  rapidly  in  pursuit  of  the  retreating  Chinese  that 
there  was  a  pause  in  the  operations  in  consequence  of  the  guns 
and  ammunition  not  having  come  up.  Moreover,  we  were  close 
to  Lin’s  Fort,  the  capture  of  which  it  had  been  arranged  should 
complete  the  first  day’s  operations.  As  the  French  had  a  light 
field-piece  with  them,  it  was  agreed  that  they  should  open  upon 
Lin’s  Fort  from  a  hillock  within  easy  range,  while  the  59th  should 
occupy  a  joss-house  to  the  right,  from  which  they  could  reach  the 


CAPTURE  OF  LIN’S  FORT.— ATTACK  OF  THE  BRAVES.  93 


embrasures  of  the  fort  with  their  Enfield  rifles.  To  the  joss-house, 
which  was  deserted,  we  accordingly  repaired,  and,  screened  by  the 
wall,  amused  ourselves  by  trying  to  repress  the  harmless  fire  which 
the  garrison  kept  up  at  intervals.  When  our  field-piece  came  up, 
and  a  shell  burst  near  them,  these  brave  defenders  unhesitatingly 
evacuated  the  fort — a  fact  as  patent  to  our  allies  as  it  was  to  our¬ 
selves.  When  the  banner  of  the  last  man  had  disappeared  be¬ 
hind  the  rising  ground  beyond,  the  French  rushed  in,  and  it  must 
be  admitted  that  there  was  no  reason  why  we  should  not  have 
done  the  same.  It  was  an  operation  entirely  devoid  of  risk  for 
either  party,  but  to  our  allies  is  due  the  credit  of  their  superior 
quickness  of  perception.  Indeed,  so  little  of  this  quality  had  some 
of  our  own  men,  that  they  rushed  at  the  fort  with  loud  shouts, 
apparently  mistaking  the  tricolor  which  waved  from  its  walls  for 
a  Chinese  banner.  As  the  French  sailors  often  carry  small  tri¬ 
color  flags  in  the  pockets  of  their  spacious  trowsers,  their  con¬ 
quests  are  rapidly  proclaimed.  Upon  this  occasion  the  leading 
marine,  having  been  provident  enough  to  supply  himself  with  a 
national  “pavilion,’7  sprung  upon  the  walls  flag  in  hand,  and  shout¬ 
ing  “Vive  l’Amiral!  l’Empereur!  la  France!  l’Angleterre !”  all 
in  a  breath,  created  an  intense  amount  of  enthusiasm,  and  was 
embraced  by  his  admiral,  and  invested  with  the  legion  of  honor 
on  the  spot. 

The  fort  was  a  small  circular  building,  fitted  for  the  reception 
of  about  200  men.  We  entered  and  inspected  it,  and  from  the 
parapet  obtained  a  good  view  of  the  city  walls,  about  600  yards 
distant.  As  soon  as  the  Chinese  perceived  us  in  possession,  the 
guns  from  the  city  opened  upon  us,  but  without  much  effect. 
Meantime  the  naval  brigade  and  marines  had  been  coming  up, 
and  extending  far  to  the  right,  over  undulating  ground  covered 
with  graves  and  clumps  of  wood.  From  Lin’s  Fort  we  had  an 
excellent  view  of  a  skirmish  in  which  they  engaged  with  some 
braves,  who  now  appeared  for  the  first  time  in  some  force.  These 
latter  were  soon  driven  back  to  the  base  of  the  hill  on  which 
Gough’s  Fort  is  situated,  but  only  to  advance  again  as  our  men 
retired.  Indeed,  as  a  considerable  distance  separated  the  combat¬ 
ants  throughout,  the  Chinese  seemed  to  gain  confidence  from  this 
mode  of  warfare,  and  began  to  collect  in  great  numbers  behind  a 
small  village,  from  which  they  made  a  grand  advance,  with  quan¬ 
tities  of  banners  waving,  and  great  yelling  and  vaporing,  throw- 


94 


POSITION  FOR  THE  NIGHT. 


ing  forward  skirmishers  in  pairs  carrying  gingalls,  making  con¬ 
temptuous  gestures  at  their  enemies,  and  indulging  in  divers  an¬ 
tics,  for  which  their  leader,  a  tall  man  in  blue,  who  carried  a  huge 
sword,  was  especially  conspicuous.  He  was  followed  by  a  stand¬ 
ard-bearer,  capering  along  ten  yards  in  advance  of  the  crowd. 
This  brave  army  ultimately  succeeded  in  occupying  a  straggling 
wood,  and  in  ensconcing  themselves  in  the  horse-shoe  graves  with 
which  the  hill-sides  abounded,  and  which  formed  natural  rifle- 
pits.  Above  these,  with  their  heads  well  under  cover,  they  defi¬ 
antly  waved  flags,  and  managed,  with  their  gingalls,  to  wound 
some  of  our  men  as  they  dodged  from  one  grave  to  another.  The 
hill  presented  somewhat  the  appearance  of  an  animated  rabbit- 
warren.  Two  or  three  shells,  however,  judiciously  dropped 
among  them  from  Lin’s  Fort,  soon  started  them  from  their  hiding- 
places;  and  the  gentleman  in  blue  displayed  even  more  agility 
in  hopping  back  again  at  the  head  of  his  army  than  he  had  in  his 
advance. 

As  this  was  the  position  we  intended  to  occupy  for  the  night, 
the  remainder  of  the  afternoon  was  spent  either  in  replying  to 
the  guns  from  the  city  with  our  field-pieces,  or  in  checking  the 
advance  of  the  braves  whenever  they  ventured  to  attempt  to  re¬ 
occupy  their  old  position.  Our  loss  during  the  day’s  operations 
had  been  trifling.  With  the  exception  of  poor  Hackett,  we  had 
not  a  man  killed,  though,  I  believe,  two  or  three  afterward  died 
of  the  wounds  they  had  received  from  gingall  balls.  The  scene 
had  been  one  of  considerable  interest  and  novelty,  if  not  of  fight¬ 
ing.  As  none  of  the  staff  were  mounted,  and  the  distances  were 
great,  one  or  two  of  us,  who  were  amateurs,  were  glad  to  find  that 
we  could  be  of  use  in  carrying  messages.  Our  head-quarters  for 
the  night  was  a  joss-house  in  the  rear  of  Lin’s  Fort,  which  was 
occupied  by  an  allied  force,  while  in  the  bamboo  groves  to  the 
right  the  marines  and  naval  brigade  were  encamped.  Our  slum¬ 
bers  were  presided  over  by  gods  and  godesses,  but,  unfortunately, 
were  a  good  deal  disturbed  by  the  groans  of  some  wounded  men, 
who  had  been  brought  in  to  the  veranda.  Long  before  daylight 
the  following  day  we  were  once  more  on  the  alert,  and  scrambled 
in  the  dark  over  the  rough  ground  to  Lin’s  Fort,  the  walls  of 
which  were  lit  up  by  the  lurid  glare  of  numerous  fires  of  our 
men,  who  were  encamped  round  it. 

Meantime  the  bombardment  was  maintained  with  unabated 


BOMBARDMENT  CONTINUED.— DEATH  OF  CAPTAIN  BATE.  95 

vigor,  and  as  I  listened  to  the  whistle  of  the  round-shot,  and 
watched  the  meteor-like  shells  of  our  mortar-battery  circling 
through  the  air,  or  the  flaming  track  of  the  rushing  rocket,  the 
old  nights  of  Sebastopol  were  forcibly  recalled  to  my  recollection. 

As  day  broke  the  enemy  once  more  opened  fire  upon  us,  and 
by  this  time  the  troops  were  on  the  move  in  all  directions.  The 
right  wing  was  advancing  upon  a  small  hamlet,  with  a  view  of 
occupying  a  large  building  in  it  known  as  the  Asylum  of  Indi¬ 
gent  Females.  The  French,  with  the  59th,  were  taking  up  their 
position  to  the  left,  while  we  moved  across  the  broken  coun¬ 
try  to  the  Asylum.  The  enemy  kept  up  as  brisk  a  fire  as  they 
could,  but  apparently  were  incapable  of  directing  their  aim. 
They  succeeded,  however,  in  inflicting  one  irreparable  loss  upon 
us  upon  reaching  the  village.  The  general  and  his  staff,  accom¬ 
panied  by  Captain  Bate,  proceeded  to  reconnoitre  the  walls  pre¬ 
paratory  to  bringing  up  the  scaling-ladders.  As  they  approached 
to  within  thirty  yards  of  the  walls,  they  sought  shelter  from  the 
sharp  matchlock-fire  which  was  opened  upon  them  behind  a  mud 
house.  It  was  necessary,  however,  that  the  ditch  should  be  in¬ 
spected,  and  it  was  in  the  performance  of  this  dangerous  service 
that  Captain  Bate,  who  undertook  it  in  company  with  Captain 
Man,  B.E.,  was  killed. 

Nine  o’clock  was  the  hour  at  which  it  had  been  arranged  with 
the  naval  authorities  that  the  firing  should  cease ;  it  was  not  yet 
eight,  and  we  were  already  under  the  walls.  The  shot  and  shell 
from  our  ships,  which  were  at  this  time  principally  directed  at 
the  east  gate,  and  that  part  of  the  wall  opposite  to  which  we  then 
were,  constantly  fell  near  our  own  men :  the  angle  of  the  Asylum 
was  blown  up  by  one  shell ;  another  burst  among  a  party  of  the 
59th,  killing  one  man  and  wounding  five. 

The  shot  of  the  enemy  was  not  apparently  directed  upon  our 
men,  or  turned  to  any  one  point.  It  fell  in  distant  cabbage-gar¬ 
dens  to  the  right,  whistled  high  over  head  to  the  left,  seriously 
damaged  unoffending  trees  in  rear,  and  was  very  disagreeable  for 
amateurs,  for  no  one  spot  was  safer  than  another ;  feeble  rockets, 
barbed  as  arrows,  thudded  about,  and  fizzed  for  a  moment  in  the 
grass,  and  the  grasshopper  buzz  of  a  gingall  ball  was  occasionally 
audible.  Upon  our  occupying  the  village,  the  population,  chiefly 
consisting  of  old  men  and  “indigent”  females  with  goat’s  feet, 
whose  home  ought  to  have  been  the  Asylum,  came  tottering  out, 


96 


ESCALADE  OF  THE  WALLS. 


prostrating  themselves  on  the  ground,  and  beating  their  breasts ; 
dragging  little  children  after  them,  they  stumbled  and  hobbled 
over  the  rough  ground  among  our  men,  by  whom,  of  course,  they 
were  in  no  way  molested. 

All  this  time  the  Land  Transport  Corps,  composed  of  China¬ 
men,  were  employed  in  bringing  up  ammunition  to  the  front,  to 
be  used  against  their  own  countrymen,  with  a  reckless  disregard 
of  gingall  balls,  and  an  absence  of  patriotism  truly  edifying. 

Meantime,  a  large  body  of  braves  coming  round  the  north  an¬ 
gle,  attacked  our  extreme  right,  and  Colonel  IIollow^’s  brigade 
of  marines  was  extended  in  skirmishing  order  to  repel  them.  A 
pretty  hot  fire  was  also  being  kept  up  on  the  embrasures  by  the 
rifle  company  of  a  regiment  of  Madras  native  infantry,  part  of  the 
59th  regiment,  and  by  a  rocket  battery  of  the  marine  artillery, 
under  Lieutenant  Studdert.  From  the  hillock  upon  which  this 
battery  was  placed,  an  admirable  view  was  obtained  of  the  city 
wall  and  the  scene  of  operations  generally ;  and  I  took  advantage 
of  a  few  quiet  moments  in  a  grave,  before  the  order  for  the  assault 
was  given,  to  make  a  sketch.  Some  heavy  guns  in  the  fore¬ 
ground,  manned  by  blue-jackets  under  Lieutenant  Beamish,  were 
dropping  shot  and  shell  into  Magazine  Hill.  As  we  had  now 
been  for  some  time  exposed  more  or  less  to  the  fire  of  our  own 
ships,  and  the  French  were  apparently  bent  upon  escalading  be¬ 
fore  the  time,  the  order  was  given  for  the  French  and  the  59th  to 
escalade,  which  they  did  simultaneously,  Major  Luard  being  the 
first  man  on  the  walls,  closely  followed  by  a  French  officer  and 
Colonel  Graham  of  the  59th :  Lieutenant  Stewart,  Boyal  Engi¬ 
neers,  however,  would  have  disputed  this  honor  with  the  foremost 
had  not  his  ladder  given  way.  Where  so  little  honor  was  to  be 
gained  by  any  body,  as  at  the  siege  of  Canton,  it  is  hardly  fair  for 
either  party  to  appropriate  the  entire  modicum.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that,  had  there  been  any  body  on  the  walls  at  the  time  and 
place  at  which  they  were  scaled,  the  rivalry  would  not  have  been 
the  less  keen  between  our  allies  and  ourselves ;  as  it  was,  the  ene¬ 
my  deserted  the  embrasures  the  moment  the  ladders  were  placed 
against  them,  and  not  a  shot  was  fired  at  us  from  the  time  the 
walls  were  scaled  to  the  capture  of  Magazine  Hill,  except  from 
our  own  ships. 

The  scaling  party  on  the  right,  not  knowing  that  the  left  had 
assaulted  before  the  time,  were  necessarily  not  upon  the  walls  for 


SCENE  FROM  MAGAZINE  HILL. 


97 


some  moments  afterward.  The  ladders  were  soon  swarming  with 
marines  and  blue-jackets  like  bees  clustering  into  a  hive.  Then 
we  raced  along  the  wall  to  Magazine  Hill ;  Canton,  silent  as  a 
city  of  the  dead,  lying  at  our  feet,  with  here  and  there  a  corpse 
stretched  in  some  narrow  lane,  to  give  a  character  of  reality  to  the 
supposition.  Whenever  a  luckless  Chinaman  was  seen  scamper¬ 
ing  over  the  country  to  the  right,  or  the  flutter  of  a  bit  of  blue 
cloth  indicated  a  human  being  in  the  streets  to  our  left,  dozens  of 
Minie  bullets  showered  round  the  devoted  object — seldom,  it  must 
be  admitted,  striking  it.  I  observed  one  man  dodging  about 
among  the  graves  for  at  least  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  making  short 
dashes  from  one  grave  to  another,  amid  a  storm  of  bullets,  just 
as  one  runs  from  shelter  to  shelter  in  a  shower  of  rain. 

The  city  wall  was  about  25  feet  in  height  and  20  feet  broad; 
the  guns  were  of  small  calibre,  and  wretched  workmanship.  A 
little  beyond  Magazine  Hill  the  Chinese  made  a  stand  upon  the 
walls,  and  a  short  and  rather  sharp  combat  took  place  at  close 
quarters,  in  which  Lord  Gilford  was  wounded,  and  the  general 
himself  so  hard  pressed  as  to  be  compelled  to  shoot  a  man  with 
his  revolver.  At  the  same  time  the  enemy  opened  a  fire  upon 
us  from  some  guns  planted  upon  the  walls  about  200  yards  dis¬ 
tant,  which  were  not  immediately  silenced. 

The  scene  from  Magazine  Hill  at  this  time  was  peculiar  and 
exciting :  200  feet  below  lay  the  city,  mapped  out  before  us ;  a 
vast  expanse  of  roofs,  a  labyrinth  of  intricate  lanes,  in  a  vain  at¬ 
tempt  to  follow  the  windings  of  which  the  eye  was  bewildered — a 
pagoda  here,  there  a  many-storied  temple,  or  the  successive  roofs 
of  a  yamun  embowered  in  luxuriant  foliage,  above  which  towered 
a  pair  of  mandarin  poles — beyond  all,  the  tapering  masts  of  our 
own  ships.  Such  were  the  principal  features  of  the  view  in  a 
southerly  direction ;  but  its  striking  element  was  that  impressive 
silence,  that  absence  of  all  movement  on  the  part  of  a  population 
of  a  million  and  a  half,  that  lay  as  though  entombed  within  the 
city  walls,  whose  very  pulsation  seemed  arrested  by  the  terrors 
of  the  night  before,  and  whose  only  desire,  if  they  could  think  at 
all,  appeared  to  be,  that  the  bare  fact  of  their  existence  should  be 
forgotten  by  the  conquerors. 

This  deathlike  stillness  upon  one  side  was  rendered  all  the  more 
remarkable  by  the  hubbub  which  was  going  on  all  round.  On 
the  right,  the  Tartar  troops  on  the  western  walls  were  replying 

G 


98 


CAPTURE  OF  THE  CITY. 


with  some  vigor  to  the  fire  of  a  field-piece  we  had  now  brought 
to  bear  upon  them ;  on  the  left  the  wall  was  still  swarming  with 
our  men,  who  had  just  scaled  and  were  crowding  up.  In  rear  the 
two  blue-jacket  forts  were  partially  in  flames,  and  we  were  com¬ 
pleting  the  business  with  a  few  rockets  from  Magazine  Hill,  while 
from  the  same  spot  we  had  just  opened  a  fire  upon  Gough’s  Fort, 
still  occupied  by  the  enemy.  As  it  was  not  yet  ten  o’clock,  a 
good  morning’s  work  had  been  already  accomplished.  The  ma¬ 
rines  and  French  had  turned  to  the  right  on  surmounting  the 
wall ;  but  the  59th  had  been  told  off  to  take  an  opposite  direction, 
and  secure  our  position  on  the  extreme  left. 

Having  seen  that  Magazine  Hill  was  satisfactorily  in  our  pos¬ 
session,  I  accompanied  General  Straubenzee,  who  returned  along 
the  wall  to  the  southern  face.  Here  we  found  the  59th  engaged 
in  a  little  desultory  rifle  practice  with  the  enemy,  who  were  pick¬ 
ing  our  men  off  the  walls  from  the  tops  of  their  houses :  while  we 
were  there,  Lieutenant  Bowen  of  the  59th  received  a  wound,  of 
which  he  afterward  died,  from  a  matchlock.  General  Straubenzee 
therefore,  withdrew  the  men  to  an  angle  in  the  wall,  which  afford¬ 
ed  good  shelter,  and  where  a  building  above  a  gateway  offered 
some  accommodation  for  the  men.  We  found  a  wounded  old 
Chinese  warrior  lying  here,  whom  we  revived  with  a  little  brandy 
and  water,  but  from  whom  we  could  not  obtain  much  information, 
though  he  was  evidently  puzzled  at  being  humanely  treated.  This 
point  was  made  the  advanced  post  for  the  night. 

As  the  capture  of  the  city  might  now  be  said  to  be  complete,  I 
took  advantage  of  the  company  of  Captain  Hall  and  Mr.  Parkes, 
who,  with  a  strong  escort,  were  going  to  open  up  a  new  line  of 
communication  with  the  river,  to  return  to  the  Furious.  The  east 
gate  was  barricaded  on  the  inside  ;  upon  forcing  it  open  we  found 
an  arc  of  wall  in  which  was  another  gate,  and  which  formed  a  sort 
of  loop  upon  the  main  wall,  inclosing  a  small  collection  of  houses. 
On  bursting  these  open,  a  number  of  frightened  inhabitants,  crouch¬ 
ing  in  corners,  immediately  made  their  presence  known  by  pray¬ 
ers  and  supplications  for  mercy.  As  one  of  these  was  an  eating- 
house,  with  a  large  copper  full  of  ready-made  tea,  we  refreshed 
ourselves  preparatory  to  new  labors.  Clearing  these  houses  of 
inhabitants,  we  opened  the  next  gate,  and  proceeded  along  the 
narrow  streets  of  the  suburbs,  all  of  which  were  deserted,  and  the 
shops  and  houses  shut.  Still  we  could  not  be  secure  against  a 


CAPTURE  OF  GOUGH’S  FORT 


99 


sudden  attack  from  the  numerous  narrow  lanes  and  dark  corners 
in  which  the  suburbs  abound.  Crossing  the  open  parade-ground, 
we  made  our  way  unmolested  to  the  river  near  French  Folly,  and 
I  reached  the  Furious  at  one  o’clock. 

At  three  o’clock  the  same  afternoon  Gough’s  Fort  was  taken, 
and  our  right  was  advanced  from  Magazine  Kill  to  the  north  gate. 
In  performing  this  operation  we  met  with  some  resistance ;  and 
throughout  the  night  our  advanced  post,  which  was  composed  of 
blue-jackets  under  the  command  of  Sir  Robert  Maclure  and  Cap¬ 
tain  Sherard  Osborn,  was  a  good  deal  harassed  by  the  Tartar 
troops  occupying  this  portion  of  the  city.  These  soldiers  had 
throughout  exhibited  considerably  more  courage  than  the  Chinese 
braves.  Mr.  Parkes  subsequently  found  the  return  of  their  killed 
and  wounded,  which  was  stated  to  be  450.  The  right  and  left  ad¬ 
vanced  posts  were  held  by  our  men.  The  French  troops  princi¬ 
pally  occupied  the  five-storied  pagoda,  a  commodious  and  sub¬ 
stantial  building  situated  upon  the  wall :  as  a  Chinese  military 
position,  it  had  suffered  a  good  deal  from  our  shot,  but  was  never¬ 
theless  convertible  into  a  most  roomy  and  comfortable  barrack. 
It  is  a  very  good  specimen  of  Chinese  architecture.  The  annexed 
wood-cut  is  taken  from  a  photograph,  for  which  I  am  indebted  to 
Dr.  Forbes,  of  the  Cruiser. 

'  i 


Five-storied  Pagoda. 


100 


MORTALITY  AMONG  THE  CHINESE. 


On  the  following  day  Lord  Elgin  proceeded  np  the  river  to  the 
Actseon,  then  lying  off  the  Dutch  Folly,  and  Mr.  Wade  and  I  start¬ 
ed  off  for  the  front  with  a  communication  from  his  excellency  for 
the  general.  We  found  the  fighting  over,  and  the  city  walls  in 
complete  possession  of  the  allies.  Thus  a  most  important  result 
had  been  achieved  with  a  trifling  loss  to  ourselves,  and  in  a  man¬ 
ner  calculated  to  produce  a  deep  impression  upon  a  population 
whose  habitual  insolence  to  foreigners  had  rendered  it  extremely 
desirable  that  they  should  be  made  aware  of  the  power  we  pos¬ 
sessed  of  inflicting  a  severe  punishment  for  insults,  whether  offer¬ 
ed  by  the  authorities  or  the  people.  The  bombardment,  which 
had  lasted  for  twenty-seven  hours,  at  the  rate  of  nearly  a  hundred 
rounds  per  ship,  was  terrific  in  aspect  and  in  its  effects  upon  cer¬ 
tain  portions  of  the  city,  but  by  no  means  so  destructive  of  human 
life  as  might  have  been  expected.  Directed  principally  against 
particular  gates  or  angles  of  the  wall,  or  against  Magazine  Hill, 
few  shot  or  shell  fell  in  the  heart  of  the  town,  and  the  people  soon 
found  out  the  safe  corners. 

It  was  afterward  reported  by  Chinamen  that  many  women  and 
children  had  been  crushed  to  death  by  the  crowds  swaying  to  and 
fro  under  the  influence  of  panic  in  the  narrow  streets ;  but  we  have 
no  evidence  of  this.  From  the  thin  sprinkling  of  dead  bodies  I 
saw  in  the  quarters  most  destroyed  by  our  fire,  and  from  the  re¬ 
ports  of  others,  I  think  Mr.  Cooke’s  estimate  of  200  (not  including 
the  Tartar  garrison)  is  a  very  fair  approximation  as  regards  the 
whole  number  killed.  At  the  same  time,  it  may  be  remarked 
that,  so  far  as  the  actual  capture  of  the  city  was  concerned,  the 
bombardment  for  more  than  a  day  and  a  night  was  quite  unnec¬ 
essary  :  from  the  feeble  resistance  offered  to  us,  it  was  evident  that 
the  walls  might  have  been  stormed  as  surely  if  our  cannonade 
had  only  lasted  for  three  hours  instead  of  twenty-seven.  Indeed, 
during  the  whole  of  this  time,  only  two  shots  were  fired  upon  our 
ships  in  the  river  from  guns  upon  the  walls.  But  the  nature  of 
the  resistance  may  best  be  judged  of  by  the  list  of  killed  and 
wounded,  and  the  unusually  small  proportion  which  the  former 
bears  to  the  latter.  In  the  entire  British  force,  consisting  of  near¬ 
ly  5000  men,  the  result  of  the  two  days’  operations  was  eight  kill¬ 
ed  and  seventy-one  wounded,  including  among  the  former  one 
killed  by  our  own  shot,  and  one  waylaid  and  murdered  by  vil¬ 
lagers.  The  French,  out  of  a  force  of  900,  lost  only  two  men  kill- 


CHINESE  LOOTING-PARTIES. 


101 


ed  and  thirty  wounded.  Doubtless  the  mortality  would  have  been 
greater  had  the  attack  been  made  from  the  west  side,  on  which 
they  were  prepared  for  us,  under  the  impression  that  we  should 
adopt  the  plan  of  attack  of  1842  ;  but,  under  all  circumstances,  we 
should  always  have  retained  those  advantages  which  result  from 
such  an  immeasurable  superiority  of  weapons,  military  skill,  and 
morale ,  as  would  render  failure  in  any  military  operation  in  China 
inexcusable,  except  under  very  peculiar  and  exceptional  circum¬ 
stances. 

On  our  way  to  the  city  I  observed  in  the  suburb  large  looting- 
parties,  composed  of  Chinese  blackguards,  ransacking  the  houses, 
and  looking  out  for  stragglers  from  our  men,  with  whom  they  oc¬ 
casionally  exchanged  shots.  They  preferred,  however,  to  be  left 
alone,  and  kept  as  much  out  of  sight  as  possible.  At  one  place  a 
pawnbroker’s  tower  was  being  thoroughly  gutted ;  a  party  on  the 
top  were  engaged  in  overhauling  the  contents,,  and  throwing  over 
to  their  comrades  below  rich  furs  and  brocaded  silks ;  nor  had  we 
time,  as  we  passed  rapidly  on,  to  interrupt  them  in  their  deeds  of 
spoliation.  It  was  already  becoming  evident  that  the  work  of  ad¬ 
ministering  the  government  of  a  large  city  containing  a  million 
and  a  half  of  inhabitants,  so  ready,  upon  the  first  opportunity,  to 
prey  upon  each  other,  would  be  by  no  means  an  easy  task  for  for¬ 
eigners  totally  unused  to,  and  comparatively  unacquainted  with, 
the  system  by  which  vast  urban  populations  were  governed  and 
controlled,  and  only  in  one  or  two  instances  able  to  speak  their 
language. 

A  great  part  of  the  suburb  had  been  destroyed,  so  as  not  to  af¬ 
ford  shelter  to  thieves  or  assassins  upon  the  immediate  line  of 
communication.  The  East  Grate,  at  which  we  entered,  was  occu¬ 
pied  by  Colonel  Graham  and  the  59th ;  and  on  our  arrival  at  the 
front,  we  found  that  the  general  had  just  left  Magazine  Hill  to 
make  a  circuit  of  the  city  walls.  W e  therefore  took  advantage 
of  a  strong  French  escort  to  follow  him.  As  we  passed  along  the 
west  wall  flanking  the  Tartar  quarter,  the  people  were  collected  in 
groups  gazing  at  us  with  interest,  but  with  an  air  of  profound  re¬ 
spect  and  submission ;  when  we  warned  them  to  disperse,  they  at 
once  obeyed.  At  one  guard  we  found  a  Tartar  officer,  whom  we 
dislodged,  and  replaced  with  a  small  French  guard.  At  the  west¬ 
ern  gate  we  were  informed  by  the  English  officer,  who  had  been 
on  guard  there  for  some  hours,  that  great  crowds  had  been  pour- 


102 


CONDITION  OF  THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS. 


ing  out  of  the  town,  but  that,  when  assured  of  our  pacific  inten- 
tions,  they  had  ceased  to  manifest  alarm  or  leave  the  town.  The 
few  persons  with  whom  Mr.  W ade  conversed  announced  themselves 
to  be  Tartar  soldiers,  and  presented  a  much  finer  appearance  than 
the  Chinese.  The  Tartar  population  of  Canton  has  been  estab¬ 
lished  there  for  a  century,  and  originally  came  from  Kirin,  in 
Manchouria.  They  were  sent  to  this  city  to  overawe  and  main¬ 
tain  order  among  the  proverbially  lawless  population  of  the  prov¬ 
ince.  Numerous  little  white  flags  fluttered  from  sticks  upon  the 
wall  and  on  the  neighboring  houses,  to  avert  farther  hostilities  on 
the  part  of  the  barbarians.  As  we  turned  along  the  south  wall 
we  observed  terrible  evidence  of  the  destructive  effects  of  the  bom¬ 
bardment.  The  south  gate  had  been  totally  destroyed  by  fire, 
and  a  broad  scar  of  burnt  houses  extended  toward  the  centre  of 
the  city.  Yeh’s  yamun  was  a  heap  of  ruins;  the  wall  behind  it 
was  battered  and  breached,  and  every  house-roof  was  perforated 
with  shot-holes. 

Generally  the  habitations  partook  more  of  the  nature  of  hovels 
than  the  residences  of  the  respectable  citizens  of  one  of  the  most 
important  and  flourishing  mercantile  emporia  in  the  empire.  De¬ 
cidedly  the  handsomest  part  of  the  town  was  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  Confucian  Hall,  near  the  south  gate.  Here  some  gaudi¬ 
ly-painted  yamuns  and  joss-houses  reared  their  fantastic  gables 
among  the  massive  foliage  of  the  large  trees  which  were  planted 
in  the  court-yards. 

The  next  day  (the  last  of  the  year)  Lord  Elgin  landed  himself, 
and  ascended,  by  means  of  a  scaling-ladder,  the  southeast  angle 
of  the  wall  at  the  point  where  it  was  destined  to  be  leveled  so  as 
to  form  the  permanent  line  of  communication.  In  the  short  piece 
of  suburb  intervening  between  it  and  the  river  sentries  had  been 
placed,  and  the  houses  were  being  demolished  after  the  inhabitants 
had  been  allowed  to  remove  their  goods  and  chattels.  A  canal 
entered  the  city  at  this  point,  passing  under  the  wall,  in  which 
there  was  a  water-gate.  Up  to  this  time  our  military  position  was 
confined  to  the  walls  alone.  No  European  had  yet  entered  the 
city,  but  it  looked  calm  and  tranquil  as  ever.  The  alarm  of  the 
inhabitants  appeared  to  have  subsided.  It  was  reported  that  the 
city  authorities  were  still  exercising  their  functions,  and  that  Yeh 
had  taken  up  his  abode  with  one  of  them,  and  was  in  innocent  ex¬ 
pectation  that  fresh  overtures  touching  our  treaty  right  to  enter 
the  city  were  about  to  be  made  to  him. 


EXPLOSION  OF  A  MAGAZINE. 


103 


An  unfortunate  accident  occurred  to  swell  the  list  of  killed  and 
wounded  in  the  course  of  the  afternoon.  Some  blue-jackets,  em¬ 
ployed  in  clearing  out  a  magazine,  allowed  a  spark  to  fall  among 
the  powder,  and  an  explosion  ensued  which  caused  the  death  of 
five  men,  and  severely  injured  twelve  more. 

Thus  closed  the  year  1857,  so  eventful  in  the  history  of  British 
arms  throughout  the  East,  and  thus  closed  with  it  the  reign  of  the 
imperial  commissioner  Yeh. 


104 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  CITY. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

New-Year’s  Day,  1858. — Exploration  of  the  City  by  the  Allies. — Capture  of  Yeh. — 
Yeh’s  Memorial  to  Pekin. — Behavior  of  Yeh  in  Captivity. — Conference  relative 
to  the  Government  of  Canton. — Plans  Proposed. — Scheme  ultimately  adopted. — 
Installation  of  Pihkwei. — Lord  Elgin’s  Address  to  Pihkwei. — Pihkwei’s  Reply. — 
Institution  of  a  civil  Tribunal. — Moral  and  political  Effects  of  the  Occupation  of 
Canton. 

New-Year’s  Day,  1858,  was  celebrated  by  a  formal  procession 
of  the  embassadors  to  Magazine  Hill  for  the  purpose  of  taking 
possession  of  the  city ;  the  ships  in  the  river  were  all  dressed  out 
in  flags,  rainbow  fashion  ;  royal  salutes  startled  the  timid  inhabit¬ 
ants  into  a  belief  that  the  bombardment  was  recommencing ;  and, 
indeed,  the  incessant  booming  of  cannon  was  an  appropriate  in¬ 
troduction  to  the  regime  under  which  they  were  now  to  be  gov¬ 
erned. 

For  the  next  three  days  the  troops  were  engaged  in  hutting 
themselves  on  the  walls,  a  proceeding  which  was  rendered  the 
more  necessary  by  the  incessant  rain  to  which  they  were  subject¬ 
ed.  In  the  course  of  certain  interesting  investigations  into  the 
personal  property  of  the  inhabitants,  which  are  considered  legiti¬ 
mate  in  the  case  of  a  captured  city,  some  of  the  streets  more  im¬ 
mediately  adjoining  the  walls  were  explored,  and  in  most  cases 
found  deserted.  Mr.  Parkes,  however,  passed  through  the  centre 
of  the  town  with  a  strong  guard,  and  met  with  no  incivility  from 
the  people.  In  the  mean  time  a  memorial  was  sent  in  from  the 
governor  of  the  city,  Pihkwei,  and  some  of  the  other  civic  func¬ 
tionaries,  stating  their  readiness  to  memorialize  Pekin  in  any  sense 
we  might  choose  to  dictate,  protesting  against  the  conduct  of  Yeh 
throughout,  and  assuring  the  ministers  that  they  had  never  been 
consulted  by  the  imperial  commissioner  upon  those  subjects  which 
had  involved  the  safety  of  their  city. 

On  the  5th  of  January  the  seizure  of  the  imperial  commissioner 
was  determined  upon,  and  at  half  past  7  o’clock  A.M.  the  city 
was  entered  at  different  points  by  three  English  and  one  French 
column ;  from  the  plans  of  the  city  in  our  possession,  and  inform¬ 
ation  already  received,  the  position  of  the  principal  yamuns  was 


CAPTURE  OF  YEH. 


105 


known.  The  French,  proceeding  along  the  great  east  and  west 
street,  known  as  the  u  Avenue  of  Benevolence  and  Love,”  from 
the  westward,  reached  the  large  yamun  belonging  to  the  Tartar 
general,  in  which  they  captured  that  high  functionary,  and  were 
shortly  afterward  joined  by  General  Straubenzee;  while  Colonel 
W alsh’s  battalion  of  marines  had  been  to  the  yamun  of  the  gov¬ 
ernor,  and  made  prisoner  of  Pihkwei,  and  thither  the  naval  and 
military  authorities  proceeded.  In  the  mean  time  Mr.  Parkes  had 
received  information  that  Yeh  was  in  a  library  not  far  distant, 
but  on  arriving  there  he  found  the  house  empty,  with  the  excep¬ 
tion  of  an  old  man  who  was  reading  in  the  garden.  From  this 
venerable  student  it  was  discovered  that  Yeh  had  been  absent  for 
five  days ;  but  the  fact  was  at  last  extorted  from  him  that  the  im¬ 
perial  commissioner  had  sought  refuge  in  the  house  of  the  Tartar 
lieutenant  general.  Accompanied  by  an  escort  of  a  hundred  blue¬ 
jackets  under  Captain  Key,  Mr.  Parkes  at  once  repaired  to  this 
yamun,  the  doors  of  which  they  found  closed ;  upon  breaking 
them  open,  and  rushing  forward,  an  old  man  in  a  mandarin’s 
coat  and  cap  threw  himself  before  them,  stating  that  he  was  Yeh. 
This  was  the  lieutenant  general  himself,  who  was  at  once  thrust 
aside  as  an  impostor ;  and  as  people  were  heard  escaping  through 
the  back  entrances,  Captain  Key  hurried  in  that  direction,  and  ob¬ 
serving  a  stout  man  in  a  narrow  passage,  resembling  a  portrait  he 
had  seen  of  the  imperial  commissioner,  threw  his  arms  round  the 
neck  of  the  fugitive,  and  proclaimed  him  his  prisoner. 

A  large  collection  of  the  archives  of  the  imperial  commissioner 
was  seized  here,  and  proved  a  most  valuable  and  interesting  as¬ 
sortment  of  papers.  Some  of  the  private  correspondence  which 
had  passed  between  Canton  and  Pekin  on  barbarian  affairs  was 
extremely  curious,  while  it  proved  that,  even  after  more  than  a 
century’s  trade  with  China,  a  long  and  disastrous  war  concluded 
by  a  commercial  treaty,  and  constant  intercourse  with  the  high 
authorities  of  the  empire,  the  cabinet  at  Pekin  were  as  far  from 
appreciating  our  character  and  designs  as  they  had  been  at  the 
commencement.  We  found  among  these  papers  the  English, 
French,  and  American  treaties,  which  it  is  not  certain  had  ever 
been  sent  to  the  capital.  One  of  the  most  interesting  specimens 
of  a  Chinese  dispatch  I  insert  in  full,  as  it  affords  an  amusing  and 
curious  illustration  of  the  amount  of  information  and  intelligence 
which  Yeh  could  bring  to  bear  upon  these  barbarian  affairs  with 


106 


YEH’S  MEMORIAL  TO  PEKIN. 


the  administration  of  which  he  was  charged.  The  preliminary 
remarks  are  by  our  able  Chinese  secretary,  Mr.  Wade,  who  trans¬ 
lated  the  document : 

{Memorandum). — The  following  is  translated  from  a  draft  in 
the  same  hand  as  that  in  which  several  of  Yeh’s  draft  memorials 
are  corrected,  and  which  I  have  other  reasons  for  believing  to  be 
his  own  MS.  It  is  the  most  unshapely  specimen  of  Chinese 
writing  I  have  ever  seen,  and  has  given  a  very  competent  native 
scholar  considerable  trouble  to  decipher.  It  was  evidently  a  first 
draft,  with  much  left  to  be  filled  in  and  corrected,  and  must  have 
been  written  but  a  few  days  before  the  receipt  of  the  plenipoten¬ 
tiaries’  ultimatum  of  the  12th  of  December,  1857.  We  have  no 
proof  that  it  was  sent  to  Pekin,  though  such  was  probably  the 
case. 


{Translation) 

(Yeh,  etc.,)  “presents  a  memorial  to  the  effect  that  the  English 
barbarians,  troubled  at  home  and  pressed  *  with  daily  increasing 
urgency  by  other  nations  from  without,  will  hardly  attempt  any 
thing  farther ;  that  they  are  reported  to  have  had  several  consult¬ 
ations  upon  the  opening  of  trade,  and  earnestly  desire  the  sug¬ 
gestion  of  some  means  to  that  end ;  that  in  consequence  of  the 
English  chief  f  not  returned  to  Canton.  A  respectful  memorial 
(of  which  particulars)  he  forwards  by  courier,  at  the  rate  of  600 
li  a  day,  and  looking  upward,  solicits  the  sacred  glance  thereon. 

“  On  the  6th  of  the  9th  moon  (23d  of  October,  1857)  j^our  serv¬ 
ant  had  the  honor  to  forward  to  your  majesty  various  particulars 
of  his  administration  of  barbarian  affairs  during  the  7th  and  8th 
moons  (August  and  September),  as  it  is  recorded. 

“  Since  the  engagement  of  the  10th  of  the  5th  moon  (1st  of 
June),  a  period  of  more  than  six  months,  the  English  barbarians 
have  made  no  disturbance  up  the  Canton  Eiver.J  (It  should  be 

*  He  may  mean  pressed  by  their  solicitations  or  for  money.  His  Hong  Kong  cor¬ 
respondents,  as  their  seized  letters  prove,  had  been  representing  us  deeply  indebted  to 
Russia,  and  in  great  difficulty  as  to  the  means  of  satisfying  her  claims. 

t  The  preamble  generally  epitomizes  the  matter  of  the  memorial.  I  take  this 
part  of  it  to  be  best  explained  by  the  last  sentence  of  the  memorial.  There  is  evi¬ 
dently  something  to  be  filled  up  in  the  text. 

t  The  affair  of  the  1st  of  June  is  the  destruction  of  Heoang’s  fleet  up  Fatshan 
Creek,  doubtless  reported  to  Pekin  as  a  victory.  The  manner  in  which  the  next 


YEH’S  MEMORIAL. 


107 


known),  however,  that  in  the  defeat  sustained  by  Elgin  at  Mang- 
ga-ta*  in  the  7th  moon,  he  was  pursued  by  the  Mang-ga-la  (Ben¬ 
gal)  barbarian  force  to  the  sea-shore.  A  number  of  French  men- 
of-war,  which  happened  to  be  passing,  fired  several  guns  in  suc¬ 
cession,  and  the  force  of  the  Bengal  barbarians  falling  back,  the 
chief  Elgin  made  his  escape.  The  chief  Elgin  was  very  grateful  to 
the  French  force  for  saving  his  life,  and  on  the  arrival  of  the  French 
minister,  Lo-so-lun,f  who,  in  the  beginning  of  the  9th  moon,  had 
also  reached  Quang-Tung,  he  the  chief,  Elgin,  feted  the  chief  Gros 
at  Hong  Kong  (lit.,  merrily  feasted  and  prayed  him  [to  drink] 
wine),  and  consulted  him  upon  the  present  position  of  affairs  in 
China. 

“  The  chief  Gros  said :  I  was  not  an  eye-witness  of  last  year’s 
affair,  but  the  story  current  among  people  of  different  nations  who 
were  by  at  the  time  has  made  me  familiar  with  the  whole  ques¬ 
tion.  You  see,t  when  the  forts  were  taken,  the  Chinese  govern¬ 
ment  made  no  retaliation ;  when  the  houses  of  the  people  were 
burned,  it  still  declined  to  fight.  How,  the  uniform  suppression, 
three  years  ago,  of  the  Quang-Tung  insurrection,  in  which  some 
hundreds  of  thousands  were  engaged,  shows  the  military  power 
of  China  to  be  by  no  means  insignificant.  Will  she  take  no  no¬ 
tice  of  her  injuries?  (Ho.)  She  is  certain  to  have  some  deep  pol¬ 
icy,  which  will  enable  her  so  to  anticipate  us  that,  before  we  can 
take  up  any  ground,  she  will  have  left  us  without  the  means  of 
finding  fault  with  her,  while  she,  on  the  other  hand,  will  oblige 
the  foreigners  to  admit  themselves  completely  in  the  wrong.  On 
the  last  occasion  that  your  nation  opened  fire,§  it  was  but  for  some 
days,  and  people  came  forward  (as  mediators),  but  this  time  you 
did  your  utmost  for  three  months.  (You  fired)  4000  rounds  and 
more  from  great  guns,  as  well  as  3000  rockets.  The  high  author¬ 
ities  of  Canton,  it  is  plain,  have  all  along  made  their  minds  up  (or 

sentence  is  introduced  shows  that  Lord  Elgin’s  return  had  been  already  announced, 
but  without  full  particulars. 

*  Mang-ga-ta  is  clearly  a  compromise  between  Mang-ga-la,  Bengal  and  Calcutta. 

f  The  French  embassador’s  name  is  elsewhere  given  as  Go-lo-so  (Gros) ;  his  title 
of  Baron  is  evidently  taken  to  be  his  name,  and  is  put  in  Chinese  fashion  after  his 
surname — lun  representing,  doubtless,  pa-lun ,  for  Baron. 

%  The  Chinese  expression  here  used  is  generally  rendered  “for  instance.”  Baron 
Gros  is  made  to  argue  that  he  understands  Yeh’s  policy,  his  opinion  of  which  will  be 
found  at  the  end  of  the  paragraph.  We  should  have  stated  it  at  the  beginning,  and 
then  have  introduced  the  illustrations  given. 

§  This  must  be  presumed  to  refer  to  Sir  Hugh  Gough’s  attack  on  Canton. 


108 


YEH’S  MEMORIAL. 


have  seen  their  way).  They  understand  the  character  of  all  class¬ 
es,  high  and  low,  in  our  foreign  states.  This  is  the  reason  why 
they  have  been  so  firm  and  unswerving.  When  I  was  leaving 
home,  the  instructions  my  own  sovereign  gave  me,  with  affection¬ 
ate*  earnestness,  were  these : 

“  i  There  is  a  quarrel  with  the  English  in  Quang-Tung;  when 
you  go  thither,  confine  yourself  to  the  observance  of  the  treaty 
and  pacific  communications.  You  are  not  to  avail  yourself  of 
the  opportunity  to  commit  acts  of  aggression  or  spoliation.  Do 
not  make  China  hate  the  French  as  a  band  of  hostile  wretchesf 
who  violate  their  engagements.  The  circumstances,  too,  are  so 
different  (from  those  of  the  last  war  of  the  English  with  China), 
that  it  is  essential  you  should  judged  for  yourself  what  course  to 
pursue.  There  is  no  analogy,  I  apprehend,  between  the  present 
case  and  the  opium  question  of  some  ten  years  since,  in  which 
they  had  some  wrongs  to  allege.’ 

“It  appears  that  in  the  country  of  the  five  Indies  appropriated 
by  the  English  barbarians,  they  have  established  four  tribal  divi¬ 
sions — three  along  the  coast,  and  one  in  the  interior.  One  of  the 
coast  divisions  is  Mang-ga-la  (Bengal),  the  country  in  the  extreme 
east ;  one  is  Ma-ta-la-sa  (Madras),  southwest  of  Bengal ;  and  one 
Mang-mai  (Bombay),  on  the  western  limit  of  India.  That  in  the 
interior  is  A-ka-la  (Agra),  lying  midway  between  east  and  west. 
About  the  end  of  last  summer,  it  is  stated,  twelve  marts  (or  ports) 
in  Bengal  which  had  revolted  were  lost.  Since  the  eighth  moon 
the  marts  in  Bombay  have  all  been  retaken  (5c.,  from  the  English) 
by  (Indian)  chiefs ;  and  since  Elgin’s  return  after  his  defeat,  the 
leaders  of  the  English  barbarians  have  sustained  a  succession  of 
serious  defeats.  The  Indian  chief  drove  a  mine  from  bank  to 
bank  of  a  river,  and  by  the  introduction  of  infernal  machines  (lit., 
water-thunder)  blew  up  several  large  vessels  of  war,  killing  above 
1000  men.  On  shore  they  enticed  (the  English)  far  into  the 
country,  and  murdered  above  7000  of  them,  killing  a  distinguish¬ 
ed  soldier  named  Pu-ta-wei-ka-lut,§  and  many  more. 

“  Elgin  passes  day  after  day  at  Hong  Kong,  stamping  his  foot 
and  sighing ;  his  anxiety  is  increased  by  the  non-arrival  of  dis¬ 
patches  from  his  government.” 

*  The  manner  in  which  the  Chinese  mandarins  address  the  people. 

f  Base,  or  low-caste  persons. 

t  That  is,  you  are  not  to  accept  the  policy  of  England  or  any  other  nation  as  yours. 

§  Possibly  Brigadier  Havelock. 


BEHAVIOR  OF  YEH  IN  CAPTIVITY. 


109 


I  reached  Magazine  Hill  shortly  after  the  prisoners  arrived 
there.  Yeh,  seated  in  a  large  room,  surrounded  by  some  of  his 
immediate  attendants,  was  answering  in  a  loud,  harsh  voice,  ques¬ 
tions  put  to  him  by  Sir  Michael  Seymour  with  reference  to  En¬ 
glishmen  who  had  been  prisoners  in  his  hands.  Though  he  en¬ 
deavored,  by  the  assumption  of  a  careless  and  insolent  manner,  to 
conceal  his  alarm,  his  glance  was  troubled,  and  his  fingers  trem¬ 
bled  with  suppressed  agitation.  His  heavy  sensual  features,  al¬ 
though  relieved  by  a  trembling  vivacious  eye,  were  not  calculated 
to  betray  very  keen  emotional  sensibility. 

In  another  room,  and  more  dignified  in  their  bearing,  perhaps 
because  they  had  less  cause  for  alarm,  Pihkwei  and  the  Tartar 
general  philosophically  awaited  their  fate — the  former  a  quiet, 
gentleman-like  old  man,  the  latter  of  gigantic  proportions  and 
stolid  countenance. 

It  was  at  once  decided  that  the  imperial  commissioner  should 
be  deprived  of  all  farther  power  for  mischief,  and  kept  as  a  pris¬ 
oner  on  board  the  “Inflexible,”  whither  he  was  conveyed  forth¬ 
with.  In  the  mean  time,  the  two  plenipotentiaries  arrived  at 
head-quarters,  and  at  a  conference  with  the  naval  and  military 
authorities,  discussed,  for  the  remainder  of  the  afternoon,  the  ex¬ 
isting  attitude  of  affairs,  and  the  proper  course  to  be  adopted  un¬ 
der  the  circumstances. 

In  the  cause  of  humanity,  the  abandonment  of  the  city  to  the 
refuse  of  its  population  was  to  be  deprecated ;  while  the  restora¬ 
tion  of  confidence  to  the  inhabitants  generally  was  a  result  which, 
in  a  political  point  of  view,  was  eminently  to  be  desired.  The 
necessity  of  organizing  without  delay  a  system  of  government 
was  therefore  apparent.  The  question  for  decision  was  what  that 
system  should  be.  The  naval  and  military  authorities  had  al¬ 
ready  confessed  their  inability  to  govern  the  city,  and  their  con¬ 
viction  that  the  Chinese  functionaries  were  alone  competent  to 
preserve  order.  In  this  opinion  the  plenipotentiaries  thoroughly 
concurred.  Indeed,  every  hour  that  passed  was  affording  incon¬ 
testable  evidence  of  its  accuracy.  The  Chinese  rabble  had  already 
taken  advantage  of  the  defenseless  condition  of  the  city,  and  were 
daily  furnishing  us  with  proof  of  their  skill  as  plunderers.  Or¬ 
ganized  gangs  were  prowling  about  the  suburbs,  and  venturing 
into  the  city,  gaining  courage  by  immunity,  and  numbers  by  suc¬ 
cess. 


I 


110  CONFERENCE  RELATIVE  TO  THE 

The  temptation  to  loot  was  strong  upon  our  own  men,  and  the 
general  professed  himself  unable,  with  the  small  force  at  his  dis¬ 
posal,  to  patrol  efficiently  with  police  a  town  containing  a  million 
of  inhabitants,  with  whom  it  was  impossible  to  communicate,  and 
hold  six  miles  of  wall  at  the  same  time,  unless  assisted  by  civil 
authority  of  a  character  which  the  people  had  been  accustomed  to 
respect.  With  a  population  imbued  with  a  traditionary  awe  for 
their  own  authorities,  and  speaking  an  unknown  tongue,  at  the 
same  time  containing  a  larger  proportion  of  trained  thieves  and 
vagabonds  than  any  in  the  world,  with  an  imperfectly  disciplined 
force  in  occupation,  consisting  of  barely  5000  men,  and  composed 
of  a  heterogeneous  assemblage  of  French  and  English,  blue-jack¬ 
ets  and  marines,  Madras  sepoys  and  British  infantry,  and,  to  crown 
all,  with  only  two  gentlemen  on  the  spot  whose  knowledge  of  the 
language  enabled  them  to  communicate  directly  with  the  people, 
it  was  manifestly  absurd  to  think  of  replacing  the  local  Chinese 
system  of  government  by  one  of  our  own;  any  such  attempt 
would  assuredly  lead  to  the  plunder  and  destruction  of  the  town, 
the  demoralization  of  the  troops,  and  to  disappointment  and  fail¬ 
ure  on  the  part  of  those  engaged  in  carrying  out  the  experiment. 
Of  this  fact  no  persons  were  more  thoroughly  convinced  than  Mr. 
Wade  and  Mr.  Parkes,  upon  whom  would  devolve  the  functions 
of  all  the  mandarins  in  Canton. 

The  situation  of  affairs  at  this  most  critical  juncture,  and  the 
difficulties  by  which  they  were  surrounded,  are  very  clearly  de¬ 
fined  in  Lord  Elgin’s  dispatch  of  the  9th  of  January,  in  which  his 
excellency  states :  u  Two  plans  for  surmounting  the  difficulties  of 
the  situation  in  which  we  found  ourselves  were  under  the  consid¬ 
eration  of  the  commanders-in-chief  when  I  reached  the  Magazine 
Hill.  The  one  proposed  that  Pihkwei  and  the  Tartar  general 
should  be  permitted  at  once  to  return  to  their  yamuns,  on  condi¬ 
tion  of  their  consenting  to  publish  a  proclamation,  in  which  the 
military  occupation  of  the  city  by  the  allied  forces  should  be  rec¬ 
ognized.  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  enter  my  protest  against  the 
adoption  of  an  arrangement  of  this  nature.  Neither  on  the  side 
of  the  Chinese  was  there,  as  it  appeared  to  me,  sufficient  honesty, 
nor  on  our  own  sufficient  means  of  acquiring  information,  and, 
perhaps  I  may  add,  sufficient  forbearance,  to  afford  a  reasonable 
prospect  of  its  working  successfully.  I  felt  confident  that  if  Pihk¬ 
wei  returned  to  his  yamun  on  the  terms  above  mentioned,  many 


GOVERNMENT  OF  CANTON. 


Ill 


days  would  not  elapse  before  some  act  would  be  committed  by 
him,  or  some  proclamation  issued,  which  would  give  rise  to  sus¬ 
picions  on  our  part ;  that  on  such  suspicions,  appeals  to  the  com¬ 
manders-in-chief,  urging  them  to  adopt  measures  of  precaution  or 
coercion,  of  increased  stringency,  would  be  grounded ;  and  that  in 
this  way  the  irritation  of  the  soldiery  against  the  Cantonese  would 
be  kept  up,  and  all  the  evils  attending  the  occupation  of  a  city  by 
a  hostile  army  perpetuated.  The  other  plan  which  had  been  sub¬ 
mitted  for  the  consideration  of  the  commanders-in-chief  proceeded 
equally  on  the  assumption  that  Pihkwei  must  be  retained  as  gov¬ 
ernor  of  Canton.  By  way,  however,  of  providing  security  for  his 
upright  behavior,  and  for  the  maintenance  of  a  good  understand¬ 
ing  between  the  parties,  it  suggested  that  he  should  be  detained 
as  a  prisoner  of  war,  if  necessary,  on  board  one  of  her  majesty’s 
ships  of  war  anchored  in  the  river,  and  that  he  should  exercise 
from  thence  the  functions  of  his  office.  It  is  needless  that  I  should 
here  insist  on  the  objections  to  which  this  proposition  was  open.” 

The  course  ultimately  adopted  was  a  compromise  of  these  two 
extremes.  It  was  decided  that  Pihkwei  should  be  reinstated  in 
his  own  yamun,  in  a  manner  calculated  to  increase  rather  than 
impair  the  prestige  of  that  authority  upon  which  the  tranquillity, 
and,  indeed,  the  very  existence  of  the  city,  at  that  critical  moment, 
depended ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  that  it  should  be  impressed  upon 
him  that,  inasmuch  as  the  city  remained  under  martial  law,  he 
was  only  administering  its  affairs  subject  to  the  approval  of  the 
general,  who  was  the  supreme  authority ;  that  he  would  be  under 
a  constant  surveillance ;  and  that  the  most  serious  consequences 
would  result  from  any  treachery  on  his  part.  This  proposal  was 
laid  before  Pihkwei,  and,  after  twenty-four  hours’  deliberation, 
during  which  time  he  remained  our  prisoner,  he  accepted  the  new 
conditions  under  which  he  was  to  continue  the  government  of 
Canton. 

During  his  short  confinement  the  governor  and  the  Tartar  gen¬ 
eral  were  occasionally  visited  by  the  Treasurer  Howqua,  and  oth¬ 
er  of  the  principal  merchants.  The  magistrate,  prefect,  and  nearly 
all  of  the  civic  authorities,  had  already  fled  from  the  city ;  and,  in¬ 
deed,  it  was  some  time  before  they  could  be  induced  to  return  and 
resume  their  functions  under  Pihkwei. 

The  9th  of  January  was  the  day  fixed  for  the  installation  of 
Pihkwei ;  and  at  two  o’clock  in  the  afternoon  the  two  plenipoten¬ 
tiaries  went  in  procession  through  the  town,  followed  by  a  large 


112 


LORD  ELGIN’S  ADDRESS  TO  PIHKWEI. 


body  of  troops,  and  preceded  by  military  bands.  The  “Avenue 
of  Benevolence  and  Love”  was  crowded  with  eager  faces,  gazing 
at  us  as  we  passed  with  respectful  curiosity.  The  entry  into  the 
yamun  of  the  governor  was  sufficiently  imposing;  and  as  the 
strains  of  martial  music  echoed  through  the  several  courts,  the 
population  outside  can  have  had  little  doubt  that  both  their  city 
and  its  authorities  were  in  our  power,  and  that  the  latter  only 
ruled  by  sufferance. 

But  while  Lord  Elgin  was  determined  that  it  should  be  very 
clearly  understood  that  Pihkwei  held  office  only  by  the  authority 
and  at  the  will  of  the  plenipotentiaries  and  commander-in-chief, 
he  was  by  no  means  desirous  that  the  prestige  of  that  functionary 
should  be  impaired — this  being,  in  point  of  fact,  the  instrument 
with  which  we  were  about  to  control  the  subordinate  Chinese  of¬ 
ficials.  He  had,  therefore,  a  double  object  in  view  in  this  cer¬ 
emony  of  investiture,  and  at  one  moment  it  was  apprehended  that 
this  double  object  might  be  in  some  degree  compromised  by  cer¬ 
tain  mistakes  which  occurred  in  carrying  the  arrangements  into 
effect.  In  the  first  place,  no  orders  were  given  as  to  the  time  at 
which  the  prisoners  who  were  to  be  converted  into  potentates 
were  to  be  released  from  durance.  This  omission  led  to  consider¬ 
able  delay,  so  that,  in  point  of  fact,  the  Tartar  general  and  Pihk¬ 
wei  did  not  reach  the  yamun  of  the  latter  till  long  after  the  hour 
originally  intended;  and,  secondly,  when  they  did  arrive,  a  dis¬ 
pute  arose  between  them  and  the  interpreters  as  to  the  seats  which 
they  ought  to  occupy.  It  was  finally  settled  that  they  should  be 
placed  immediately  below  the  embassadors ;  and  Lord  Elgin  had 
barely  time,  while  the  shades  of  night  were  gathering,  to  address 
to  them  the  following  words,  which  were  cordially  seconded  by 
Baron  Gros:  “We  are  assembled  here  to  welcome  your  excel¬ 
lency  on  your  return  to  your  yamun,  and  on  your  resumption  of 
the  functions  of  your  office,  which  have  been  momentarily  inter¬ 
rupted.  It  is  proper,  however,  that  I  should  apprise  your  excel¬ 
lency,  and,  through  your  excellency,  the  inhabitants  of  Canton, 
that  the  plenipotentiaries  of  England  and  France,  and  the  com¬ 
manders-in-chief  of  the  allied  forces,  are  firmly  resol  ved  to  retain 
military  occupation  of  the  city  until  all  questions  pending  between 
our  respective  governments  and  that  of  China  shall  have  been 
finally  settled  and  determined  between  us,  the  high  officers  ap¬ 
pointed  by  our  governments  for  this  service,  and  a  plenipotentia¬ 
ry  of  equal  rank  and  powers,  whom  his  imperial  majesty,  the 


PIHKWEI’S  REPLY. 


113 


Emperor  of  China,  may  see  fit  to  appoint  to  treat  with  ns.  Any 
attempt,  therefore,  whether  by  force  or  fraud,  whether  by  treach¬ 
ery  or  violence,  to  disturb  us  in  our  possession  of  the  city,  will 
not  fail  to  bring  down  on  its  authors  and  abettors  the  most  severe 
and  signal  punishment.  I  am,  however,  no  less  prepared  to  ap¬ 
prise  your  excellency  that  it  is  equally  our  determination,  when 
the  questions  to  which  I  have  referred  shall  have  been  so  settled, 
to  withdraw  from  the  military  occupation  of  the  city,  and  to  re¬ 
store  it  to  the  imperial  authorities.  Meanwhile,  it  is  our  sincere 
wish  that,  during  the  period  of  our  military  occupation,  the  feel¬ 
ings  of  the  people  be  respected,  life  and  property  protected,  the 
good  rewarded,  and  offenders,  whether  native  or  foreign,  punished. 
We  are  desirous  to  co-operate  with  your  excellency  for  these  ob¬ 
jects  ;  and,  with  this  view,  we  have  appointed  a  tribunal,  com¬ 
posed  of  officers  of  high  character  and  discretion,  to  act  in  concert 
with  you.  We  hope  that,  through  the  agency  of  this  tribunal, 
confidence  may  be  restored  to  the  people,  and  the  foundation  laid 
of  a  better  understanding  between  foreigner  and  native,  so  that 
hereafter  all  may  pursue  their  avocations  in  peace,  and  traffic  to¬ 
gether  for  their  mutual  advantage.” 

The  substance  of  Pihkwei’s  reply  to  this  address  is  as  follows : 
“He  begged  his  respects  to  his  lordship.  He  acknowledged  his 
lordship’s  consideration  of  the  people  of  Canton.  A  state  of 
tranquillity  would  be  best  secured  by  the  exertion  of  authority 
on  either  side,  native  and  foreign,  to  restrain  those  severally  sub¬ 
ject  to  it  from  doing  what  was  offensive  to  the  other.  We  prom¬ 
ised  to  control  our  people ;  he  would  control  his.  This  would  be 
to  the  advantage  of  Canton.  Lastly,  he  trusted  that  his  lordship 
might  soon  meet  an  officer  qualified  to  treat  with  him,  and  that 
the  result  of  their  negotiations  would  be  the  establishment  of  a 
good  understanding.” 

The  two  mandarins  were  in  full  official  costume,  and  retained 
throughout  that  charmed  and  delighted  manner  which  a  Chinaman 
always  puts  on  when  he  is  powerless  and  alarmed.  The  ceremony 
over,  the  plenipotentiaries  returned  to  their  ships,  and  left  Pihk- 
wei  in  possession  of  his  own  yamun :  a  cheerless  residence  it  must 
be  at  the  best  of  times,  consisting  of  a  series  of  buildings  divided 
by  court-yards,  and  each  containing  a  large  central  hall,  with  two 
or  three  small  rooms  on  either  side,  scantily  furnished,  and  light¬ 
ed  by  paper  windows. 


H 


114 


EFFECTS  OF  THE  OCCUPATION  OF  CANTON. 


When  I  visited  the  yamun  on  the  following  day  the  outer 
courts  were  full  of  allied  troops,  and  Pihkwei  lived  in  the  inner 
division,  so  that  he  could  not  keep  up  intercourse  with  the  outer 
world  without  passing  our  sentries.  In  one  compartment  of  the 
same  yamun  was  established  a  commission,  composed  of  Colonel 
Holloway,  Captain  Martineau,  and  Mr.  Parkes.  The  object  of 
this  commission  was  ostensibly  to  adjudicate  upon  cases  brought 
by  the  Chinese  of  robbery  or  violence  committed  by  our  men  upon 
the  population ;  but  its  principal  function  was  to  exercise  a  rigid 
surveillance  over  Pihkwei ;  to  superintend  the  issuing  of  proc¬ 
lamations  ;  and  to  collect  information  from  private  sources  upon 
all  matters  affecting  the  disposition  of  the  inhabitants,  and  the  se¬ 
curity  of  our  tenure  in  the  city.  At  the  same  time,  the  institu¬ 
tion  of  a  tribunal  invested  with  judicial  functions  was  not  with¬ 
out  a  beneficial  effect,  as  well  upon  the  Chinese  as  upon  our  own 
troops.  To  the  former  it  proved  our  desire  to  protect  the  private 
property  and  lives  of  the  citizens ;  and  to  the  latter  it  manifested 
the  determination  which  existed  on  the  part  of  their  own  authori¬ 
ties  to  repress  those  outrages  which  were  unfortunately  becom¬ 
ing  too  common,  and  which,  while  they  struck  at  the  root  of  all 
military  discipline,  impaired  the  influence  it  was  desired  to  ac¬ 
quire  over  the  inhabitants  by  the  exercise  of  moderation  and  justice. 

The  number  of  complaints  which  were  daily  brought  by  the 
Chinese  before  this  tribunal  fully  justified  the  estimate  formed  of 
its  value. 

Our  occupation  of  Canton  gave  us  an  opportunity,  which  might 
never  again  occur,  of  endeavoring,  by  intercourse  and  daily  con¬ 
tact,  to  overcome  that  antipathy  and  distrust  toward  Europeans 
which  had  always  distinguished  its  population,  and  to  the  mani¬ 
festation  of  which  they  were  instigated  by  their  own  mandarins. 
Our  former  experience  at  Chusan  gave  us  every  reason  to  hope 
that  a  better  acquaintance  with  us  would  remove  their  old  exist¬ 
ing  prejudices,  and  that,  in  the  end,  the  forcible  occupation  of 
their  city  would  lead  to  a  better  understanding  on  both  sides. 
Under  the  influence  of  terror,  one  step  was  already  gained.  The 
populace  had  lost  their  defiant  and  insulting  manner,  and  substi¬ 
tuted  for  it  an  air  of  profound  submission  and  humility,  always 
remaining  in  a  standing  position  as  a  European  passed,  letting 
down  their  tails  in  accordance  with  their  own  customs  when  desir¬ 
ous  of  showing  respect,  and  uncovering  their  heads  out  of  defer¬ 
ence  to  our  prejudices  upon  the  subject. 


WITHDRAWAL  OF  THE  NAVAL  FORCE. 


115 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Withdrawal  of  the  naval  Force.— Yamun  of  the  Tartar  General.— “  The  Hall  of 
State.”— The  ornamental  Gardens.— Scenes  at  the  Landing-place.— The  Hall  of 
Examination. — The  “Avenue  of  Benevolence  and  Love.” — Open-air  Cookery. — 
Streets  of  Canton. — Joss-houses  of  Canton. — Future  Punishments  illustrated. — 
Allied  police  Corps. — Pihkwei’s  Proclamations.— A  Luncheon  at  Howqua’s.  — 
Pihkwei’s  Dispatch  on  Trade. — Proposal  to  raise  the  Blockade. 

The  city  of  Canton  was  now  completely  in  the  possession  of 
the  allied  forces.  Almost  the  whole  of  the  British  portion  of  the 
naval  force  was  therefore  withdrawn,  the  marines  and  59th  form¬ 
ing  the  army  of  occupation,  together  with  a  few  hundred  French 
sailors. 

Our  Jacks  presented  a  most  grotesque  appearance  as  they  re¬ 
turned  to  their  ships,  waving  Chinese  banners,  their  heads  cover¬ 
ed  with  mandarin  caps,  and  their  knapsacks  filled  with  spoils  of 
a  miscellaneous  description ;  though,  to  do  them  justice,  we  may 
fairly  conjecture  that  these  were  rather  ornamental  than  useful  in 
their  character.  In  this  respect  our  simple  tars  presented  a  mark¬ 
ed  contrast  in  their  looting  propensities  to  their  more  prudent 
comrades  among  the  allies.  These  latter  possessed  a  wonderful 
instinct  for  securing  portable  articles  of  value ;  and,  while  honest 
Jack  was  flourishing  down  the  street  with  a  broad  grin  of  tri¬ 
umph  on  his  face,  a  bowl  of  gold-fish  under  one  arm,  and  a  cage 
of  canary-birds  under  the  other,  honest  Jean,  with  a  demure  coun¬ 
tenance,  and  no  external  display,  was  conveying  his  well-lined 
pockets  to  the  water-side. 

All  this  time  Pihkwei’s  yamun  presented  so  much  more  the 
appearance  of  a  barrack  for  French  and  English  soldiers  than 
the  residence  of  a  Chinese  mandarin,  that  it  was  considered  de¬ 
sirable  that  they  should  be  removed  to  the  more  spacious  yamun 
belonging  to  the  Tartar  general,  but  not  at  present  occupied  by 
him.  Though  in  a  dilapidated  condition,  it  was  a  good  specimen 
of  the  style  of  the  best  class  of  official  residences  in  China.  The 
first  indication  to  the  stranger  of  the  existence  of  one  of  these 
buildings  is  the  large  masonry  screen,  upon  which  gigantic  dragons 
are  delineated,  and  which  is  often  placed  upon  the  side  of  the  thor- 


116 


“THE  HALL  OF  STATE.” 


oughfare  opposite  the  yamun,  so  that  the  street  passes  through  the 
court-yard,  of  which  it  forms  one  face.  Near  it  are  the  two  lofty 
red  poles,  the  invariable  insignia  of  office.  Walls  inclose  this 
square,  on  the  fourth  side  of  which  is  the  entrance.  Two  carved 
lions  guard  a  flight  of  granite  steps,  which  ascend  to  the  principal 
gateway.  Upon  the  huge  folding-doors  are  depicted  gaudily-at¬ 
tired  giants,  who  gaze  contemplatively  upon  the  crowd,  holding 
with  their  left  hands  the  points  of  their  beards.  Passing  through 
this  door,  we  enter  a  veranda,  where  once  Tartar  soldiers  mounted 
guard,  but  of  which  all  that  remains  are  enormous  tridents,  spears, 
and  cimeters  stacked  in  a  rack.  Then  down  more  steps,  and  across 
a  paved  yard,  and  through  another  painted  gate,  called  the  “Gate 
of  Ceremony,”  on  each  side  of  which  are  circular  slabs  of  granite, 
like  millstones,  carved  with  figures  emblematic  of  eternity.  Then 
across  another  grass-grown  court,  and  up  another  flight  of  steps, 
to  the  “  Hall  of  Audience,”  in  the  front  of  which  is  a  raised  paved 
yard,  surrounded  by  an  elaborately-carved  granite  balustrade. 

Altogether  there  were  five  successive  ranges  of  buildings,  each 
separated  from  the  other  by  a  court-yard,  each  dechcated  to  some 
particular  purpose,  each  surmounted  by  a  tablet-like  escutcheon, 
on  which  were  inscribed  in  large  characters  the  name  of  the  gen¬ 
eral  then  occupying  the  yamun,  to  whom  it  was  presented  by  the 
emperor,  the  date,  and  the  character  “Happiness.”  The  fourth 
range  of  buildings  contained  the  “  Hall  of  State,”  where  there  was 
a  stone  screen,  upon  which  were  inscribed  the  merits  which  should 
distinguish  the  soldier,  his  necessary  qualifications,  and  the  posi¬ 
tion  he  shohld  occupy  with  reference  to  them ;  in  other  words,  that 
he  should  be  “  the  right  man  in  the  right  place ;”  and  in  the  corner, 
in  gigantic  strokes,  as  appropriate  to  the  profession  in  China  at  all 
events, /the  character  “Longevity.”  The  fifth  was  the  innermost 
building  of  all:  it  possessed  an  upper  story,  and  here  were  the 
apartments  of  the  women.  Each  range  was  seventy  or  eighty 
yards  long,  the  private  apartments  lighted  by  paper  and  occasion¬ 
al  panes  of  glass,  and  ornamented  with  pictures. 

There  were  detached  buildings  at  the  sides ;  a  library  with  joss 
figures,  but  no  books ;  a  temple  dedicated  to  the  emperor’s  hand¬ 
writing,  where  a  slab  was  erected  like  those  upon  which  the  com¬ 
mandments  are  usually  inscribed  in  our  own  churches,  with  writ¬ 
ing  in  the  Manchourian  character  in  the  emperor’s  own  hand.  Sur¬ 
rounding  all  were  gardens,  in  which  were  tangled  thickets,  and 


SCENES  AT  THE  LANDING-PLACE. 


117 


shady  walks,  and  little  islands  in  the  middle  of  ponds,  approached 
by  rustic  bridges,  and  surrounded  by  ornamental  rock-work ;  sum¬ 
mer-houses  and  cool  grottoes  were  pleasant  retreats  from  the  noon¬ 
day  heat.  The  grounds  altogether  were  of  that  quaint  character 
peculiar  to  Chinese  taste,  and  which  is  not  without  a  certain  charm. 
The  stone  of  which  the  caves  and  arches  were  composed  comes 
from  a  district  about  a  hundred  miles  distant ;  the  fantastic  shapes 
which  are  common  to  it  render  it  especially  suitable  to  ornamental 
purposes. 

The  whole  of  this  establishment  bore  the  marks  of  neglect  and 
decay.  Some  of  the  rooms  were  tenanted  by  bats;  the  courts, 
which  should  have  been  shaded  only  by  the  spreading  banyan  or 
graceful  bamboo,  were  overrun  with  noxious  weeds,  and  the  gar¬ 
dens  were  partly  jungle.  All  this,  however,  was  ultimately  trans¬ 
formed  by  the  allied  civil  and  military  officials,  and  a  large  body 
of  troops,  who  entered  into  possession  of  these  picturesque  quar¬ 
ters  shortly  before  we  left  Canton,  and  have  remained  in  them  ever 
since. 

We  had  now  been  a  fortnight  in  occupation  of  Canton,  and  found 
abundant  employment,  during  the  rest  of  our  stay,  in  exploring 
the  hitherto  forbidden  purlieus  of  that  exclusive  city.  Lord  Elgin 
seldom  allowed  a  day  to  pass  without  visiting  it,  partly  for  the 
purpose  of  judging  for  himself  of  the  temper  of  the  people,  partly 
from  the  pleasure  he  took  in  exploring  its  most  hidden  recesses, 
but  principally  to  check,  as  far  as  possible,  by  his  personal  influ¬ 
ence,  those  excesses  on  the  part  of  the  troops  so  detrimental  to  the 
policy  he  was  determined  to  carry  out.  Nor,  in  this  latter  respect, 
were  his  efforts  unavailing.  The  general  thoroughly  entered  into 
the  views  of  the  plenipotentiaries,  and,  by  his  stringent  orders,  ef¬ 
fectually  restrained  the  somewhat  natural  tendencies  of  the  men  in 
the  exercise  of  what  they  considered  their  legitimate  privileges. 
It  is  only  fair  to  state  that,  upon  the  whole,  their  conduct  was  in 
the  highest  degree  creditable  to  the  arm  of  the  service  to  which 
they  belonged. 

A  gun-boat,  which  the  admiral  had  placed  at  Lord  Elgin’s  dis¬ 
position,  conveyed  us  daily  from  our  anchorage,  about  three  miles 
from  the  landing-place,  to  and  from  the  city.  Tuis  landing-place 
ever  presented  a  scene  of  picturesque  confusion.  At  low  water,  a 
vast  surface  of  deep  mud  was  exposed  to  view,  over  which  we 
were  dragged  in  sampans  by  boatwomen,  who  kilted  themselves 


118 


THE  HALL  OF  EXAMINATION. 


for  the  occasion,  and  shoved  and  waded  with  immense  energy  and 
perseverance  for  a  few  coppers  each.  The  boat  population  was 
indeed  the  first  to  regain  confidence,  and  each  gun-boat,  as  it  ar¬ 
rived,  was  surrounded  by  a  swarm  of  importunate  sampan-owners, 
whose  love  of  filthy  lucre  soon  overcame  any  patriotic  scruples 
they  might  have  had.  Parties  of  seamen  and  sappers  were  en¬ 
gaged  in  constructing  a  pier,  stores  were  being  landed  for  the  gar¬ 
rison,  and  athletic  Chinamen,  who  formed  the  land-transport  corps, 
were  collected  in  groups  round  the  burdens  they  were  destined  to 
carry  to  the  front.  The  services  which  these  men  had  rendered 
from  the  commencement  of  operations  can  not  be  too  highly  esti¬ 
mated  ;  their  conduct  under  fire  proved  that,  properly  disciplined 
and  supported,  the  Chinaman  was  not  deficient  in  personal  cour¬ 
age  ;  while  in  their  endurance  and  obedience  they  gave  evidence 
of  the  most  valuable  qualities  which  go  to  make  up  the  soldier. 

The  southeast  angle  of  the  wall  was  leveled,  and  a  broad  road 
made  to  it  from  the  landing-place,  so  that  an  admirable  line  of 
communication  conducted  to  every  point  occupied  by  our  troops. 
Immediately  within  this  angle  the  Hall  of  Examination,  covering 
a  great  extent  of  ground,  was  the  first  striking  object  which  met 
the  eye.  It  consisted  of  a  series  of  rows  of  cells  on  each  side  of  a 
broad  paved  walk,  not  unlike  the  interior  of  a  church,  on  a  very 
large  scale.  Each  row  was  separately  tiled  over,  and  divided  into 
a  quantity  of  stalls,  about  the  size  usually  allotted  to  horses ;  each 
of  these  was  supposed,  during  the  period  of  the  public  examina¬ 
tions,  to  contain  a  student,  the  whole  being  calculated  to  accom¬ 
modate  8000  with  lodging.  Certainly  there  was  not  much  to  dis¬ 
tract  their  attention  during  the  fortnight  they  were  condemned  to 
pass  in  these  cells.  A  narrow  passage  separated  them  from  the 
dead  wall  which  formed  the  back  of  the  next  row,  and  thick  par¬ 
titions  rendered  communication  with  their  neighbors  on  either 
side  impossible.  It  is  necessary  to  pass  through  this  examination 
in  order  to  obtain  a  master’s  degree ;  the  only  exception  is  made 
in  favor  of  age ;  and  after  a  man  has  passed  threescore  and  ten 
years,  he  is  considerately  allowed  to  take  out  the  degree  of  honor¬ 
ary  master.  At  the  period  of  our  occupation  the  passages  were 
overgrown  with  weeds,  and  it  bore  all  the  marks  of  disuse  and 
neglect.  The  houses  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  were  wretch¬ 
ed  in  the  extreme,  and  had  suffered  a  good  deal  from  the  fire  of 
our  ships. 


OPEN-AIR  COOKERY. 


119 


The  ‘‘Avenue  of  Benevolence  and  Love,”  or  the  great  east  and 
west  street,  was  the  principal  thoroughfare  of  the  city ;  here  it  was 
that  the  shops  first  began  to  open,  and  the  population  to  resume 
those  street  habits  which  are  the  same  in  every  Chinese  town,  and 
which  were  temporarily  suspended  by  the  capture  of  the  city; 
one  after  the  other  shop-boards  came  down,  and  the  owners  stood 
smilingly  behind  their  counters,  thankful,  doubtless,  that  the  con¬ 
tents  which  they  had  not  had  time  to  remove,  were  there  to  tempt 
their  barbarian  customers.  As  the  taste  of  these  latter  for  curi¬ 
osities  became  known,  shops  of  this  character  multiplied  with 
marvelous  rapidity.  “  Olo  bronzes,  and  too  muchee  olo  crackly 
China,”  were  lavishly  displayed;  and  the  crowds  constantly  col¬ 
lected  at  the  doors  of  the  shops  proved  that  foreign  purchasers 
were  making  rash  investments  within.  At  first  it  was  not  con¬ 
sidered  prudent  to  move  about  unaccompanied  by  an  escort,  but 
this  was  speedily  discontinued,  and,  with  a  revolver  and  a  com¬ 
panion,  we  used  to  venture  into  any  part  of  the  city  or  suburbs. 

As  the  “Avenue  of  Benevolence  and  Love”  was  more  fre¬ 
quented,  it  became  a  less  agreeable  lounge,  and  the  already  nar¬ 
row  streets  were  still  farther  diminished  in  breadth  by  large  tubs 
full  of  live  fish,  baskets  of  greens,  sea  chestnuts,  yams,  and  bam¬ 
boo  root.  Cooking-stoves  were  erected,  and  elaborately  cooked 
viands  hissed  and  sputtered  on  the  heated  iron,  titillating  with 
their  savory  odor  the  nostril  of  the  hungry  passenger.  Open  cop¬ 
pers  steamed  and  bubbled,  and  delicate  morsels  danced  on  the 
surface ;  round  tables  were  daintily  set  out  with  pastry  of  divers 
patterns,  and  presided  over  by  croupiers,  who  jerked  reeds  in  a 
box,  or  spun  a  ball  something  after  the  fashion  of  roulette,  thus 
enabling  the  dinner-seeker  to  combine  the  exhilarating  excite¬ 
ment  of  the  gambler  with  the  epicurean  enjoyment  of  the  gour¬ 
mand,  the  consideration  that  they  had  cost  him  nothing  adding 
additional  zest  to  his  gastronomic  pleasures.  It  might  so  happen, 
on  the  other  hand,  that  one  unkind  turn  of  the  wheel  of  fortune 
sent  him  supperless  to  bed. 

Notwithstanding  the  apparent  gradual  restoration  of  confidence, 
people  for  some  time  continued  to  pour  out  of  the  West  Gate, 
without,  however,  making  any  perceptible  diminution  in  the 
amount  of  the  population.  It  was  singular  to  stand  here  and 
watch  this  exodus,  to  observe  the  miscellaneous  property  which 
was  being  conveyed  by  patient  coolies,  followed  by  anxious  own- 


120 


JOSS-HOUSES  OF  CANTON. 


ers.  Now  a,  man  passed  with,  tables  and  chairs  at  one  end  of  his 
stick,  and  two  babies  at  the  other ;  coffins  balanced  pots  of  ma¬ 
nure  ;  and  men  transported  articles  which  we  should  consider 
worthless,  as  carefully  as  their  wives ;  nor,  considering  the  gen¬ 
eral  aspect  of  the  female  part  of  the  population,  was  this  wonder¬ 
ful,  when  to  their  natural  ugliness  is  added  the  deformity  of  feet 
and  apparent  entire  absence  of  arms — for  a  Chinese  woman  sel¬ 
dom  makes  use  of  the  sleeves  of  her  jacket;  any  thing  more  un¬ 
prepossessing  than  the  lady  part  of  the  community  could  not  be 
well  conceived.  In  fact,  after  the  first  novelty  has  worn  off,  there 
is  nothing  to  make  a  promenade  in  the  streets  of  a  Chinese  town 
attractive.  The  foulest  odors  assail  the  olfactories.  The  most 
disgusting  sights  meet  the  eye — objects  of  disease,  more  loath¬ 
some  than  any  thing  to  be  seen  in  any  other  part  of  the  world, 
jostle  against  you.  Coolies  staggering  under  coffins,  or  some¬ 
thing  worse,  recklessly  dash  their  loads  against  your  shins ;  you 
suspect  every  man  that  touches  you  of  a  contagious  disease  ;  and 
the  streets  themselves  are  wet,  slippery,  narrow,  tortuous,  and 
crowded.  The  best  streets  were  those  in  the  suburbs,  at  the  back 
of  the  site  of  the  foreign  factories,  and  which  had  formerly  been 
frequented  by  foreigners.  There  the  shops  were  gayer  and  more 
richly  supplied;  and  the  vertical  shop-signs,  gorgeously  emblazon¬ 
ed  in  fantastic  characters,  were  more  numerous  and  striking  to 
the  stranger’s  eye. 

The  factories  themselves  were  a  heap  of  ruins ;  the  only  spot 
which  could  vie  with  their  former  site,  as  a  scene  of  desolation, 
was  Yeh’s  yamun,  right  in  the  line  of  the  Cruiser’s  fire.  The  guns 
of  that  ship  had  effectually  demolished  the  residence  of  the  im¬ 
perial  commissioner.  The  street  of  triumphal  arches,  in  a  line  be¬ 
yond  it,  had  also  unfortunately  suffered;  many  valuable  book¬ 
shops  had  been  destroyed,  and  four  of  the  arches  leveled.  The 
same  number,  however,  still  remain ;  they  are  massively  construct¬ 
ed  of  carved  granite,  and  covered  with  inscriptions.  Though  of 
elegant  design  and  workmanship,  they  are  not  comparable  to  those 
which  span  the  streets  of  Ningpo.  The  joss-houses  at  Canton  were 
not  remarkable  for  beauty  of  architectural  design  or  ornament. 
The  handsomest  was  near  the  northeast  angle  of  the  wall ;  the  ex¬ 
terior  was  elaborately  adorned  with  carved  groups  in  relief  over 
the  principal  entrance,  and  under  the  quaint  turned-up  eaves  the 
figures  were  gaudily  colored,  and  reflected  in  looking-glasses  let 


FUTURE  PUNISHMENTS  ILLUSTRATED. 


121 


into  the  frame-work  which  supported  them.  Many  of  the  larger 
figures  in  these  joss-houses  had  been  overturned,  as  a  popular  no¬ 
tion  prevailed  among  the  soldiers,  which  was  not  altogether  with¬ 
out  foundation,  that  within  the  portly  persons  of  these  deities 
treasure  was  often  concealed. 

Others  of  the  joss-houses  were  more  particularly  dedicated  to 
what  is  vulgarly  known  as  “  Sing-sing  joss-pigeon.”  A  favorite 
lounge  of  the  idler  part  of  the  population  was  the  spacious  court 
of  one  of  these,  situated  close  to  the  treasurer’s  yamun.  Here 
“ mendici ,  mimoe ,  balatrones ,  hoc  genus  omne ,”  collected  daily;  gam¬ 
bling,  fortune-telling,  eating,  and  tom-toming  went  on  perpetual¬ 
ly;  and  public  story-tellers  kept  gaping  crowds  entranced  with 
the  thrilling  interest  of  their  narrations,  which  were  delivered 
with  great  volubility,  accompanied  by  considerable  play  of  feature, 
and  with  a  loud,  clear  intonation.  By  way  of  a  cheerful  subject 
of  contemplation  for  the  public  who  frequented  this  haunt  of  ex¬ 
citement,  the  tortures  of  the  damned  were  exhibited  in  recesses  all 
round  the  court-yard.  Clay  figures,  about  three  feet  high,  like 
those  of  terra-cotta  to  be  seen  in  Italy,  were  represented  in  vari¬ 
ous  attitudes  inflicting  or  submitting  to  the  most  horrid  penalties ; 
men  were  being  sewn  up  alive  in  raw  bullock  skins,  women  sawn 
asunder,  and  whole  families  were  being  stirred  about  as  they  sim¬ 
mered  in  huge  caldrons.  The  tormentors  invariably  wore  an  ex¬ 
pression  of  countenance  indicative  of  placid  enjoyment,  while  the 
faces  of  their  victims,  distorted  with  agony,  were  vividly  portray¬ 
ed.  Altogether  the  tableaux  were  worthy  of  the  most  lively  in¬ 
quisitorial  imagination. 

During  the  first  week  of  the  occupation,  bodies  of  men  were 
marched  through  the  different  quarters  of  the  city  as  patrols :  it 
was  found,  however,  that  this  served  rather  to  alarm  than  to  reas¬ 
sure  the  population  ;  while  a  lawless  rabble,  following  close  in  rear, 
took  advantage  of  the  confusion  created  to  shoplift  with  a  dexter¬ 
ity  worthy  of  the  swell-mob.  An  allied  police  was  therefore  sub¬ 
stituted  for  these  patrols,  composed  partly  of  Chinese  and  partly 
of  English  or  French.  Natives  and  foreigners  were  alike  amused 
to  observe  a  file  of  marines  walking  amicably  side-by-side  with  a 
file  of  Chinamen,  the  one  headed  by  a  sergeant,  and  the  other  by  a 
petty  mandarin,  gracefully  fanning  himself.  This  scheme  proved 
eminently  successful:  European  offenders  were  brought  up  and 
punished  by  the  tribunal ;  while  Pihkwei  bastinadoed  his  own 


122 


PIHKWEI’S  PROCLAMATION S. 


countrymen  with  an  unsparing  vehemence,  to  prove  his  desire  of 
cordial  co-operation.  The  experiment  of  a  naval  alliance  for  the 
suppression  of  piracy  did  not  turn  out  so  happily,  the  Mandarin 
junks  taking  the  first  opportunity,  by  escaping  into  the  creeks,  to 
dissolve  the  connection.  As,  in  the  course  of  his  explorations, 
Mr.  Parkes  discovered  some  proclamations  intended  to  inflame  the 
population  against  foreigners,  which  evil-disposed  persons  were 
beginning  to  post  up  extensively,  Pihkwei  was  ordered  to  issue 
notices  to  the  head  men  of  the  districts,  making  them  responsible 
for  insulting  or  incendiary  proclamations.  The  system  of  respon¬ 
sibility  thus  introduced  is  thoroughly  in  accordance  with  the  Chi¬ 
nese  plan  of  government.  It  was  that  pursued  in  the  government 
of  Canton  with  perfect  success  :  it  served  the  two-fold  purpose  of 
keeping  Pihkwei  constantly  in  check,  and  of  proving  to  the  inhab¬ 
itants  the  absolute  supremacy  of  our  power. 

Some  of  these  proclamations  were  characteristic,  and  to  the 
minds  of  the  Chinese  readers  sufficiently  novel  and  startling,  after 
the  inflammatory  notices  against  foreigners  to  which  they  had 
been  accustomed.  In  one  the  authorities  call  the  people  to  ac¬ 
count  for  calling  names:  “Whereas,”  they  say,  “the  Canton  peo¬ 
ple  have  a  habit,  whenever  they  see  a  foreigner,  of  shouting  out 
‘Fan-kwei/  and  otherwise  committing  themselves,  in  utter  viola¬ 
tion  of  all  rules  of  proper  demeanor,  and  of  the  conduct  that  is  due 
from  man  to  man,  you  forget  that  there  is  no  distinction  between 
natives  and  foreigners ;  that  foreigners  are  but  as  the  people  of 
other  provinces ;  and  that  there  should  be  between  you  courteous 
intercourse  and  mutual  concession ;  that  you  should  not  intention¬ 
ally  show  contempt  for  them  or  stand  aloof  from  them:”  then  it 
goes  on  to  notice  the  practice  of  posting  placards,  and  concludes 
by  stating  that,  “This  is  to  signify  to  all  you,  the  people,  that 
henceforth,  when  you  meet  foreigners  in  the  streets,  }'ou  must  be¬ 
have  to  them  civilly ;  you  must  neither  use  the  term  *  fan-kwei/ 
nor  any  other  opprobrious  expression.  You  are  not  either  to 
post  placards  containing  any  thing  offensive  to  foreigners.  We, 
the  authorities  above  mentioned,  spare  not  to  reiterate  this  caution 
to  you.  W e,  at  the  same  time,  command  all  police  and  constables 
to  keep  strict  watch,  and  to  seize  those  who  transgress.  If  you 
offend,  you  will  be  punished  with  the  utmost  severity.  Do  not, 
therefore,  pursue  a  course  which  you  will  repent  when  it  is  too 
late.  Do  not  disobey.  A  special  notification.”  Another  procla- 


PIHKWEI’S  DISPATCH  ON  TRADE. 


123 


rnation,  concluding  “Let  every  one  tremble  and  obey,”  was  from 
Pihkwei,  commanding  servants  who  bad  left  the  service  of  Euro¬ 
peans  at  Hong  Kong  in  consequence  of  the  pressure  applied  by 
the  government,  to  return  to  their  masters. 

Among  those  most  anxious  for  the  re-establishment  of  a  settled 
order  of  things  was  the  celebrated  Chinese  merchant  Howqua, 
who,  in  the  fullness  of  his  desire  for  conciliation,  invited  some  of 
us  to  luncheon  with  him  one  afternoon.  His  house  in  the  sub¬ 
urbs  had  remained  uninjured  during  the  troubles,  and  was  taste¬ 
fully  but  plainly  furnished :  he  explained,  however,  that  he  pos¬ 
sessed  another  handsomer  residence.  W e  met  here  a  blue-button 
mandarin  and  an  ex-j  udge  from  the  province  of  Sz’chuen.  The 
latter  was  an  enlightened  man,  and  said  that  Yeh  had  only  re¬ 
ceived  what  he  deserved.  Howqua  regaled  us  with  some  de¬ 
licious  tea,  of  course  without  milk  or  sugar,  and  we  afterward  sat 
down  to  a  light  repast  of  preserves  and  fruits,  our  host  doing  the 
honors  with  much  courtesy  and  good-breeding. 

But  the  Chinese  merchants  of  Canton  were  not  the  only  per¬ 
sons  desirous  of  seeing  commerce  resumed.  Most  singular  to 
state,  Pihkwei  wrote  to  Lord  Elgin  upon  the  same  subject  as  fol¬ 
lows  :*  “  Still  it  is,  without  doubt,  essential  that,  so  far  as  trade  is 
concerned,  no  time  should  be  lost.  By  every  day  that  the  open¬ 
ing  of  the  port  is  accelerated,  by  so  much  is  the  restoration  of 
public  confidence  accelerated,  not  only  in  the  minds  of  the  Chi¬ 
nese,  but  in  the  minds  of  the  merchants  in  every  nation  as  well. 
The  conditions  of  trade  would  probably  be  in  accordance  with 
the  old  regulations  under  which  imports  and  exports  were  enter¬ 
ed  and  inspected,  and  the  duties  on  them  paid.  Your  excellency 
is,  of  course,  thoroughly  conversant  with  these.  I  would  add 
that,  from  the  ninth  moon  of  last  year  to  the  present  time,  a 
twelvemonth  and  more,  the  mercantile  communities  of  both  our 
nations  have  been  subjected  to  loss.  The  eagerness  with  which 
merchants  will  devote  themselves  to  gain,  if  the  trade  be  now 
thrown  well  open,  will  increase  manifold  the  good  understanding 
between  our  nations,  and  the  step  will  thus,  at  the  same  time,  en¬ 
hance  your  excellency’s  reputation.” 

Those  who  are  familiar  with  the  normal  state  of  our  relations 
with  Chinese  mandarins  at  Canton  will  appreciate  the  change 
which  must  have  been  operated  upon  them  when  the  governor 

*  Blue-Book,  24th  of  January,  1858. 


124 


PROPOSAL  TO  RAISE  THE  BLOCKADE. 


I 


of  the  city  approaches  a  British  minister  as  a  suppliant  for  the  re¬ 
establishment  of  that  trade,  in  the  prosecution  of  which  it  has 
been  the  policy  of  England  so  often  to  humiliate  itself  before 
China. 

The  allied  plenipotentiaries  were  not  unwilling  to  respond  to 
this  appeal.  It  was  indeed  true  that  fifteen  months  had  already 
elapsed  since  the  unfortunate  incident  occurred  wich  led  to  an  in¬ 
terruption  of  our  commercial  relations  with  Canton ;  the  unsatis¬ 
factory  state  in  which  they  had  subsequently  for  some  time  re¬ 
mained  ultimately  resulted  in  the  so-called  blockade,  which  was 
established  during  Lord  Elgin’s  absence  in  India.  The  embassa¬ 
dors  were  anxious  to  effect  the  speedy  removal  of  this  restriction, 
partly  because,  in  the  then  state  of  our  commercial  relations  with 
the  other  ports  of  China,  its  very  existence  was  anomalous,  and 
partly  because  the  resumption  of  trade  was  the  most  effectual  way 
of  restoring  that  confidence  to  the  population  of  Canton,  on  the 
establishment  of  which  their  policy  in  some  measure  depended. 

The  naval  authorities  thoroughly  concurred  with  them  in  this 
desire,  and  were  no  less  anxious  to  put  an  end  to  a  blockade 
which,  while  it  tended  to  exercise  a  demoralizing  influence  upon 
the  class  of  vessels  specially  employed  in  enforcing  it,  had  failed 
in  the  object  it  was  designed  to  accomplish.  Instead  of  prevent¬ 
ing  all  trade  with  Canton,  it  had  simply  diverted  it  to  the  Broad¬ 
way  and  other  channels  not  guarded  by  our  cruisers.  Thus  it 
was  both  ineffectual  and  illegal ;  a  circumstance  which  fortunate¬ 
ly  it  did  not  occur  to  any  neutral  power  to  complain  of. 

The  accomplishment  of  so  important  a  measure  involved  a  new 
set  of  considerations,  and  it  behooved  the  embassadors  to  prepare 
for  the  contingencies  which  were  likely  to  arise  under  the  altered 
conditions  of  the  situation. 


/ 


DIPLOMACY  IN  CHINA. 


125 


CHAPTER  X. 

Diplomacy  in  China. — Policy  of  the  neutral  Powers. — Proposed  Expedition  to  the 
North. — Opinion  of  Count  Poutiatine. — Proclamation  raising  Blockade. — Putin- 
qua’s  Gardens. — River  Scenes. — Lord  Elgin’s  Visit  to  the  Prisons. — State  of  the 
Prisoners. — Fate  of  Yeh. — Lord  Elgin’s  Letter  to  Yu. — Departure  for  Shanghai. 
— Amoy. — Arrival  at  Shanghai. — Departure  for  Soo-chow. — Facilities  of  Water- 
communication. — Canal  Scenes. — State  of  the  Population. — Mr.  Maclane’s  Visit 
to  Soo-chow. — Boat-life  on  the  Canals. 

The  position  which  the  Chinese  Empire  has  hitherto  occupied 
with  reference  to  the  rest  of  the  world  has  always  invested  the 
conduct  of  diplomatic  relations  in  that  country  with  peculiar  dif¬ 
ficulties.  Hot  only  are  questions  of  the  most  exceptional  char¬ 
acter  constantly  arising  with  the  imperial  government,  but  out  of 
them  are  often  evolved  complications  in  our  intercourse  with 
other  European  nations,  which  have  no  analogy  elsewhere,  and 
are  unprovided  for  by  any  principle  of  international  law. 

Thus  the  capture  of  one  city  in  an  empire,  while  we  were  trad¬ 
ing  peaceably  at  others,  was  not  a  more  abnormal  proceeding  than 
the  reopening  to  the  commerce  of  other  nations  a  port  of  which 
we  retained  military  possession,  and  governed  under  martial  law. 
Yet  it  was  manifestly  a  condition  of  things  out  of  which  interna¬ 
tional  difficulties  might  easily  spring,  more  especially  if  there 
should  chance  to  be  any  disposition  to  create  them.  Ho  doubt 
we  confined  ourselves  to  a  strictly  military  occupation  of  the  city ; 
the  custom  duties  were  to  be  collected  by  Chinese  officials,  and 
paid  into  the  Chinese  treasury ;  still  foreigners  were  not  on  the 
same  footing  here  as  at  other  towns  in  the  empire,  and,  within 
certain  limits,  placed  themselves  within  the  somewhat  arbitrary 
jurisdiction  of  martial  law. 

The  suspension  of  diplomatic  relations  with  the  Imperial  Com¬ 
missioner  Yeh,  which  had  taken  place  in  the  autumn  of  1856,  had 
necessarily  caused  serious  interruption  to  the  commercial  inter¬ 
course  of  other  nations  at  Canton ;  but  so  unanimous  was  the  de¬ 
sire  on  their  part  to  take  advantage  of  the  opportunity  then  af¬ 
forded  of  renewing  relations  with  the  Chinese  government  under 
other  and  more  favorable  conditions,  that  France,  Russia,  and 


126 


PROPOSED  EXPEDITION  TO  TIIE  NORTH. 


America  sent  out  plenipotentiaries,  whose  very  arrival  in  China, 
if  it  did  not  imply  a  tacit  approval  of  our  ground  of  quarrel,  at 
all  events  evinced  a  determination  to  make  it  available  for  the 
attainment  of  the  objects  they  desired. 

So  far  as  France  was  concerned,  she  had  her  own  grievance, 
and  her  policy  was  laid  down  without  any  attempt  at  mystery. 
With  Russia  and  America,  however,  the  case  was  different.  Not 
conceiving  themselves  entitled  to  the  attitude  of  belligerents,  they 
Avere  driven,  during  the  progress  of  hostilities,  into  a  false  posi¬ 
tion,  from  which  the  restoration  of  peace  could  alone  relieve  them. 
They  were,  however,  so  far  fortunately  placed  that  under  no  cir¬ 
cumstances  could  they  be  losers  by  a  quarrel  in  which  they  were 
not  involved,  while  they  might  derive  equal  advantages  from  its 
results  with  those  who  Avere.  As  it  had  never  been  the  policy 
of  England  to  attempt  to  monopolize  those  advantages,  and  as  a 
united  pressure  might  more  probably  extort,  without  recourse  to 
arms,  those  demands  which  the  four  nations  Avere  preferring  in 
common,  the  time  seemed  to  have  come,  in  the  opinion  of  Lord 
Elgin  and  Baron  Guos,  to  invite  the  co-operation  of  the  neutral 
powers,  and  thus  not  only  to  increase  the  moral  pressure,  but  to 
avoid  the  chance  of  those  difficulties,  to  which  I  have  already  al¬ 
luded,  being  raised. 

The  plan  of  operations  which  Lord  Elgin  had  proposed  for  him¬ 
self,  in  the  prosecution  of  his  policy,  was  to  proceed  in  the  first 
instance  to  Shanghai,  and  to  invite  a  properly  accredited  minister 
to  meet  him  there  for  the  settlement  of  all  questions  in  dispute  be¬ 
tween  the  two  countries.  Shanghai  being  at  a  considerable  dis¬ 
tance  from  the  capital,  and  being,  moreover,  the  place  where  the 
relations  between  foreigners  and  Chinese  were  of  the  most  friend¬ 
ly  character,  Lord  Elgin  considered  this  proposal  the  most  con¬ 
ciliatory  which  it  was  in  his  power  to  make.  In  the  event  of  his 
not  being  so  met,  his  intention  was  to  push  northward  without 
delay,  for  the  purpose  of  approaching  Pekin  as  nearly  as  was 
practicable,  with  gun-boats  of  the  lightest  draught.  This  scheme 
he  had  already  discussed  with  Count  Poutiatine,  whose  local 
knowledge  was  of  great  assistance  (see  Blue-Book,  14th  of  No¬ 
vember,  1857,  the  Earl  of  Elgin  to  the  Earl  of  Clarendon),  in 
which  his  excellency  says :  u  Count  Poutiatine  was  very  decided 
in  the  expression  of  his  opinion  that  nothing  could  be  done  with 
the  Chinese  government  unless  pressure  were  brought  to  bear 


OPINION  OF  COUNT  POUTIATINE. 


127 


upon  Pekin  itself,  and  that  tlie  use  of  vessels  drawing  so  little 
water  that  they  could  navigate  the  Peilio  would  be  the  best  means 
of  making  such  pressure  effective.  The  mandarins  on  the  spot, 
if  I  rightly  understood  him,  had,  in  conversation  with  him,  ad¬ 
verted  with  exultation  to  the  fact  that  our  ships  of  war  could  not 
perform  this  feat.  I  told  him  that  we  were  pretty  strong  in  craft 
of  the  description  to  which  he  referred ;  that  we  had,  as  he  no 
doubt  knew,  a  quarrel  of  our  own  in  this  neighborhood,  but  that, 
when  that  affair  was  concluded,  we  should  be  prepared  to  go 
northward  in  force,  and  very  glad  to  be  accompanied  by  the  flags 
of  other  nations  interested  with  us  in  extending  commercial  rela¬ 
tions  with  China,  and  inducing  that  court  to  abate  its  absurd  pre¬ 
tensions  to  superiority.” 

In  furtherance  of  these  views,  Lord  Elgin  shortly  afterward  ad¬ 
dressed  a  communication  to  the  admiral,  requesting  him  to  dis¬ 
patch  the  lightest  draught  gun-boats  to  the  north  for  the  purpose 
of  “bringing  pressure  to  bear  at  some  point  near  the  capital.”* 

Meantime,  in  answer  to  communications  addressed  to  Mr.  Reed 
and  Count  Poutiatine,  those  gentlemen  at  once  cordially  accepted 
the  invitation  to  unite  with  France  and  England  in  the  projected 
expedition  to  the  north,  and,  either  at  Shanghai  or  at  a  point 
nearer  the  capital,  press  their  common  demands  jointly  on  the 
cabinet  of  Pekin.  It  only  remained  now  to  issue  a  proclamation 
announcing  the  raising  of  the  blockade,  and  to  make  the  necessary 
arrangements  for  the  reopening  of  trade.  As  Lord  Elgin  and 
Baron  Gros  did  not  participate  in  the  general  opinion  that  this 
measure  was  premature,  or  believe  in  the  almost  universal  predic¬ 
tion  that  the  raising  of  the  blockade  would  not  be  the  signal  of 
the  renewal  of  foreign  trade,  they  determined  to  name  the  earliest 
day  possible  for  the  experiment.  It  was  settled  that  the  consular 
flags  should  be  hoisted,  and  the  customs  levied  by  Chinese  officers 
at  Whampoa ;  while  Canton  itself,  and  its  immediate  suburbs,  with 
the  exception  of  Honan,  should  remain  under  martial  law,  and 
only  be  entered  by  Europeans  under  passports  containing  certain 
printed  restrictions,  to  be  granted  by  the  allied  naval  and  military 
authorities. 

On  the  6tli  of  February  a  notification  was  published  by  the  al¬ 
lied  commanders-in-chief,  announcing  the  raising  of  the  blockade, 
and  the  nomination  by  them  of  the  mixed  commission  already 
*  Blue-Book,  the  Earl  of  Elgin  to  Admiral  Seymour,  2d  of  March,  1858. 


128 


KAISING  BLOCKADE.— FATEE  GAKDENS. 


mentioned,  and  consisting  of  Colonel  Holloway,  Captain  Marti- 
neau,  and  Mr.  Parkes,  to  preserve  good  order,  and  to  inquire  into 
infractions  of  their  regulations,  or  of  martial  law,  etc.  And  on 
the  same  day  a  farther  notification  was  issued  by  the  plenipoten¬ 
tiaries,  declaring  “  that  the  city  and  suburbs  will  continue  in  mili¬ 
tary  occupation,  and  under  martial  law,  until  farther  notice,  but 
that  hostile  operations  against  China,  except  such  as  the  com¬ 
manders-in-chief  of  the  allied  forces  may  consider  it  necessary  to 
adopt  for  the  security  of  their  military  position  in  Canton,  are  for 
the  present  suspended.  With  the  exception  of  what  was  implied 
by  the  necessary  clause  announcing  the  suspension  of  our  hostili¬ 
ties  with  China  generally,  no  restriction  whatever  was  placed  upon 
the  action  of  the  allied  commanders-in-chief,  upon  whom  alone 
rested  the  responsibility  of  dealing  with  braves  or  disaffected  pop¬ 
ulace  as  they  should  deem  most  expedient. 

The  10th  of  February  was  the  May  fixed  for  the  raising  of  the 
blockade  ;  and  although,  in  consequence  of  the  Chinese  New  Year, 
and  the  festivities  incidental  to  it,  the  reopening  of  trade  was  de¬ 
layed  for  some  weeks,  the  extent  to  which  it  increased  within  the 
next  few  months,  and  the  fact  that  about  one  third  of  the  exports 
were  paid  for  in  British  goods,  fully  justified  the  plenipotentiaries 
in  their  view  of  the  expediency  of  the  measure. 

W e  had  now  spent  two  months  in  the  Canton  Biver,  and  had  ex¬ 
hausted  the  attractions  of  its  banks  and  the  resources  of  Canton. 
We  had  visited  the  Fatee  Gardens,  situated  in  a  creek  crowded 
with  the  boats  which  had  taken  refuge  there  on  our  occupation. 
Here  box-trees  were  cut  in  the  shapes  of  animals  or  dragons ; 
young  bamboos  were  fantastically  twisted;  gaudy  and  sweet- 
scented  flowers  bloomed  in  rows  of  pots ;  quaint  little  bridges  led 
over  pools,  the  water  of  which  was  hidden  by  broad-leaved  lan¬ 
guid  lilies ;  and  grotesque  pavilions  surmounted  rocky  islets.  All 
Chinese  gardens  partake  of  much  the  same  character.  About  four 
miles  from  Canton  is  the  country  house  of  Putinqua,  deserted  by 
its  owner  on  the  occasion  of  our  visit,  but  very  singular  in  its  ar¬ 
rangement  to  European  eyes.  A  tall  white  pagoda,  situated  on  a 
rocky  island,  affords  a  bird’s-eye  view  of  several  acres  of  water 
surrounded  by  a  wall,  with  here  and  there  islands  and  bridges, 
and  pathways  leading  to  them,  paved  and  covered  in  with  trellis- 
work,  and  overrun  with  creepers,  and  in  the  centre  of  all  the  man¬ 
sion  of  the  owner,  built  on  piles  in  the  water,  with  drawbridges 


RIVER  SCENES. 


129 


communicating  with,  the  bedrooms,  and  canals  instead  of  passages. 
It  was  the  principle  of  Yenice  applied  to  a  single  residence. 

As  it  was  not  safe  to  walk  into  the  country  for  any  distance,  our 
explorations  in  the  neighborhood  of  our  anchorage  were  necessa¬ 
rily  limited.  Sometimes  we  visited  the  handsome  nine-storied 
pagoda,  which,  from  being  slightly  out  of  the  perpendicular,  is 
known  as  the  inclined  pagoda,  about  a  mile  distant ;  at  others  ex¬ 
plored  in  a  light  boat  the  narrow  creeks  in  the  vicinity,  where 
extensive  villages  of  junks  and  sampans  lay  concealed  between 
banks  cultivated  with  rice  and  water-chestnuts.  The  very  exist¬ 
ence  of  a  vast  population  within  a  short  range  of  our  ship  was 
totally  unsuspected ;  some  of  these  creeks  were  already  bridged 
by  rows  of  houses  built  over  them  on  piles,  the  whole  presenting 
a  quaint  and  novel  appearance.  As  these  villages  contained  a 
lawless  and  desperate  population,  who  in  a  great  measure  depend¬ 
ed  for  their  livelihood  upon  river  piracy,  a  distant  walk  involved 
a  large  party  and  revolvers.  One  day  we  captured  a  gang  of 
eight  of  these  plunderers  rifling  one  of  the  Chinese  bum-boats  at¬ 
tached  to  the  ships ;  they  were  kept  in  irons  all  night,  and  sent  to 
Pihkwei  next  morning. 

On  another  occasion  we  observed  a  portion  of  the  population 
of  a  village  turn  out  in  pursuit  of  a  gang  who  were  escaping  in  a 
boat  they  had  evidently  stolen.  The  chase  was  a  most  exciting- 
one,  but,  unfortunately,  night  closed  in  before  we  saw  its  results. 
Some  of  the  gentlemen  attached  to  the  French  embassy  wer&  at¬ 
tacked  one  evening  in  a  sampan,  and  found  it  necessary  to  shoot 
one  or  two  of  their  assailants  with  revolvers.  Under  these  cir¬ 
cumstances,  expeditions,  either  afloat  or  ashore,  were  always  in¬ 
vested  with  a  tinge  of  excitement,  which  relieved  the  monotony 
of  the  occupation.  For  a  few  clays  we  were  employed  in  blowing- 
up  a  monster  brass  gun,  which  had  been  left  in  one  of  the  barrier 
forts  taken  by  the  Americans.  They  had  endeavored  to  remove 
this  prize  in  vain,  so  it  became  our  perquisite.  A  remarkable 
specimen  of  Chinese  workmanship,  it  measured  twenty-five  feet  in 
length,  and  more  than  five  feet  across  the  breech. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  incidents  which  occurred  about  this 
time  at  Canton  was  the  discovery,  by  Lord  Elgin,  of  the  public 
prisons,  and  the  horrors  which  were  disclosed  induced  him  to  re¬ 
monstrate  strongly  with  Pihkwei  on  the  subject.  The  old  man¬ 
darin  was  more  roused  by  this  act  of  interference  on  our  part 

I 


130 


LORD  ELGIN’S  VISIT  TO  THE  PRISONS. 


than  by  the  capture  of  the  city,  and,  in  a  letter  he  addressed  to 
Lord  Elgin,  makes  an  indignant  appeal  to  his  excellency’s  “en¬ 
lightenment  and  rectitude,”  etc.  “Would  your  excellency,”  he 
asks,  “hold  it  correct,  or  not,  were  I,  for  instance,  without  giving 
you  information,  to  desire  any  one  to  remove,  by  force,  British 
prisoners  confined  in  a  British  jail?”  and  he  concludes  pathetic¬ 
ally,  “  I  am  not  a  man  greedy  of  life,  and,  sooner  than  be  thus  un¬ 
reasonably  oppressed,  I  would  gladly  give  my  life  to  the  state. 
The  matter  is  of  great  importance ;  and  I  write  that  your  excel¬ 
lency  may,  when  you  have  considered  it,  inform  me  without  loss 
of  time  of  the  course  to  be  followed.  I  avail  myself  of  the  occa¬ 
sion  to  wish  your  excellency  the  blessings  of  the  season.”  * 

But  old  Pihkwei  was  not  so  unreasonably  oppressed  as  the 
wretched  victims  of  Chinese  legislation.  Their  condition  has 
been  graphically  described  by  Mr.  Cooke,  who  was  present  at 
their  discovery.  Pihkwei  was  therefore  informed  that,  in  spite 
of  his  sensitive  feelings  on  the  point,  he  must  take  the  unhappy 
beings  into  a  room  in  his  yamun,  where  I  first  saw  them,  wan 
and  emaciated,  but  slowly  recovering  under  medical  treatment ; 
in  return  for  which,  their  countenances  expressed  gratitude  more 
strongly*than  I  had  supposed  possible  in  a  Chinese  physiognomy. 
One  boy  had  been  so  tightly  bound  in  a  squatting  position  that 
he  was  unable  to  assume  any  other,  while  several  of  the  men’s 
legs  and  feet  were  a  mass  of  bruises  and  ulcers,  the  effect  of  se¬ 
vere  bastinadoing. 

On  the  7th  of  February  the  70th  native  regiment  of  Bengal  in¬ 
fantry  landed.  They  were  the  first-fruits  of  our  trip  to  Calcutta ; 
but  at  Canton  their  arrival  was  inaugurated  by  an  unfortunate 
accident  which  occurred  the  same  day,  partly  owing  to  their  ig¬ 
norance  of  the  regulations,  and  partly  to  the  impetuosity  of  a 
French  patrol,  which  fired  upon  some  stragglers  engaged  in  col¬ 
lecting  firewood  and  looking  for  cooking  utensils,  and  shot  three 
men.  The  arrival  of  this  regiment  was  most  opportune ;  it  was 
followed  at  a  later  period  of  the  year  by  the  47th  and  65th,  also 
from  Bengal,  an  accession  of  force  which  enabled  the  general  to 
detach  the  59th  “Queen’s”  to  the  north  at  a  critical  point  in  the 
negotiations.  Meantime,  ever  since  his  capture,  Yeh  had  remain¬ 
ed  a  prisoner  on  board  the  “Inflexible”  at  the  Bogue  Forts.  As 
his  presence  so  near  the  scene  of  his  exploits  was  supposed  to 
*  Blue-Book,  17th  of  January,  Pihkwei  to  Earl  of  Elgin. 


131 


FATE  OF  YEH.— LORD  ELGIN’S  LETTER  TO  YU. 

* 

exercise  a  disturbing  influence  upon  the  minds  of  the  Chinese 
population,  and  as  a  useful  ship  was  kept  unemployed  while  serv¬ 
ing  as  his  prison,  it  was  decided  that  he  should  be  sent  to  Cal¬ 
cutta,  where  government  were  in  the  habit  of  accommodating  po¬ 
litical  state  prisoners.  Until  he  was  informed  of  his  fate  he  seem¬ 
ed  never  thoroughly  to  have  realized  the  fact  that  he  was  our 
prisoner,  and  had  constantly  expressed  his  astonishment  at  Lord 
Elgin’s  absence,  and  the  postponement  of  those  negotiations  to 
conduct  which  he  professed  was  his  object  in  living  on  board  the 
“Inflexible.”  He  manifested  not  the  slightest  emotion,  however, 
on  learning  his  destination,  and  expressed  himself  entirely  satis¬ 
fied  with  any  arrangement  that  was  come  to  in  his  regard. 

Meantime  the  four  powers,  acting  in  concert,  had  decided  on 
addressing  a  communication  to  Pekin,  demanding  a  plenipoten¬ 
tiary  possessing  full  powers  to  treat  on  the  several  points  speci¬ 
fied  in  their  letters,  to  be  sent  to  Shanghai,  which  was  named  as 
the  place  of  negotiation  in  the  first  instance.  In  the  event  of  an 
imperial  commissioner  not  being  sent  there  before  the  end  of 
March,  the  allied  embassadors  declared  it  to  be  their  intention  to 
proceed  to  some  point  nearer  the  capital,  with  the  view  of  placing 
themselves  more  directly  in  communication  with  the  high  officers 
of  the  Chinese  government. 

Lord  Elgin’s  letter  was  addressed  to  Yu,  the  senior  Secretary 
of  State.  It  inclosed  copies  of  the  correspondence  which  had 
taken  place  with  the  imperial  commissioner ;  explained  the  pres¬ 
ent  position  of  affairs  at  Canton  as  resulting  from  the  conduct  of 
that  functionary ;  announced  the  intention  of  the  allied  powers  to 
continue  the  occupation  until  those  demands  which  we  had  re¬ 
served  to  ourselves  the  right  to  make,  under  the  altered  attitude 
of  affairs,  had  been  satisfied ;  adverted  in  general  terms  to  the  na¬ 
ture  of  those  demands,  as  having  for  their  object  the  placing  of 
our  relations  on  a  safer  and  more  satisfactory  basis.  A  resident 
minister  at  or  near  the  court,  a  more  extended  intercourse  through¬ 
out  the  country,  were  the  principal  points  insisted  upon  in  addi¬ 
tion  to  those  claims  for  indemnity,  to  which  we  already  consider¬ 
ed  ourselves  entitled.  The  letter  concluded  by  stating  that,  in 
the  event  of  no  plenipotentiary  presenting  himself,  or  presenting 
himself  without  sufficient  powers,  or  proving  unwilling  to  accede 
to  reasonable  terms  of  accommodation,  the  British  plenipotentiary 
“  reserves  to  himself  the  right  of  having  recourse,  without  farther 


132 


DEPARTURE  FOR  SHANGHAI.— AMOY. 


announcement,  delay,  or  declaration  of  hostilities,  to  such  meas¬ 
ures  in  vindication  of  the  claims  of  his  country  on  China  as  in  his 
judgment  it  may  appear  advisable  to  adopt.” 

This  letter  was  dated  the  11th  of  February,  or  the  day  after  the 
raising  of  the  blockade ;  and  on  the  following  morning  I  left  Can¬ 
ton  in  company  with  the  Vicomte  de  Contades,  the  bearer  of  the 
French  note,  for  Shanghai,  for  the  purpose  of  having  it  forwarded 
with  the  least  possible  delay  from  that  point  to  the  capital.  The 
American  and  Russian  notes  were  dispatched  by  U.  S.  frigate  Mis¬ 
sissippi  about  the  same  time. 

If  the  reader  is  only  as  tired  of  Canton  and  its  neighborhood 
as  we  were,  I  shall  have  the  less  scruple  in  requesting  him  to  ac¬ 
company  me  to  the  north,  more  especially  as  no  event  of  political 
interest  occurred  during  the  few  weeks  which  formed  the  remain¬ 
der  of  Lord  Elgin’s  stay  in  the  south,  and  my  own  journey  term¬ 
inated  in  a  manner  far  more  interesting  than  I  could  have  antici¬ 
pated. 

We  reached  Amoy  in  the  Peninsular  and  Oriental  Company’s 
steamer  Formosa  on  the  morning  of  the  16th.  Though  only  here 
for  a  few  hours,  we  saw  enough  of  Amoy  to  reconcile  us  to  a 
speedy  departure.  A  walk  to  the  British  consulate  led  us 
through  the  centre  of  the  town,  along  streets  narrower  and  more 
filthy  than  those  of  Canton,  crowded  as  it  so  happened  with  a 
gayly  dressed  population,  engaged  in  feasting  and  visiting  at  one 
another’s  houses,  and  celebrating  the  new  year.  Children  swad¬ 
dled  in  finery  were  borne  about  like  bambinos,  their  mothers  re¬ 
splendent  in  gaudy  petticoats,  glittering  hoofs,  faces  powdered 
white,  and  hair  bedizened  with  flowers  of  brilliant  hues.  Numer¬ 
ous  toy-shops  displayed,  in  tempting  array,  their  fantastic  con¬ 
tents,  and  the  population  seemed  given  over  to  merry-making. 
The  British  consulate  is  a  handsome  residence,  situated  under  the 
walls  of  the  citadel,  through  which  we  afterward  walked,  the  Chi¬ 
nese  guard  betraying  little  interest  or  curiosity.  The  island  of 
Amoy  is  a  rocky  barren  spot,  unattractive  in  a  picturesque  point 
of  view,  and  owing  its  importance  chiefly  to  the  trade  in  tropical 
produce  which  it  maintains  with  Singapore  and  the  Straits.  A 
good  deal  of  sugar  is  also  imported  here  from  Formosa,  and  it 
has  hitherto  enjoyed  the  unenviable  distinction  of  being  the  chief 
port  of  coolie  emigration  (so  called)  to  Cuba  and  the  West  In¬ 
dies. 


ARRIVAL  AT  SHANGHAI. 


133 


At  daylight  on  the  morning  of  the  20th  we  found  ourselves  in 
the  muddy  waters  of  the  Yang-tse-Kiang,  though  out  of  sight  of 
land,  and  reached  Woosung  the  same  afternoon.  This  is  simply 
an  opium  station,  and  the  European  population  is  composed  of 
the  occupants  of  receiving-ships.  It  is  only  twelve  miles  from 
here  to  Shanghai.  The  banks  of  the  river  are  flat.  Farm-houses 


S 

bfl 

§ 

02 

O 

o 

£ 

o 


are  situated  in  clumps  of  trees,  leafless  at  this  time  of  year,  and 
surrounded  by  meadows;  and  the  whole  aspect  of  the  country 
very  much  resembles  some  parts  of  Holland.  The  wind  was  bit¬ 
terly  cold ;  but  the  piercing  blast,  so  far  from  being  disagreeable, 
produced  a  most  exhilarating  effect  upon  systems  more  or  less 
enervated  by  tropical  heats. 

That  night  we  once  more  occupied  the  bedrooms  of  civiliza¬ 
tion,  and  reveled  in  the  luxuries  of  carpets  and  curtains,  crack¬ 
ling  fires  and  warm  blankets. 

We  found  that  the  Taoutai  or  Intendant  of  Shanghai,  the  high¬ 
est  Chinese  official  in  that  place,  was  absent  on  his  annual  New- 
Year  visit  to  his  superior  officers,  the  governor  of  the  province 
and  the  governor  general  of  the  Two  Kiangs.  As  in  his  absence 
there  was  no  functionary  of  a  sufficiently  high  rank  to  intrust 
with  the  transmission  of  letters  of  such  grave  importance  to  the 
capital,  it  became  a  matter  for  our  consideration  whether  we 
ought  not  to  deliver  them  in  person  to  Chaou,  the  Governor  of 
Kiangsu,  to  whom  they  were  in  the  first  instance  addressed.  This 
high  functionary  resided  at  the  celebrated  city  of  Soo-chow,  which, 
since  the  occupation  of  Nankin  by  the  rebels,  has  taken  the  rank 
of  the  provincial  city. 


134 


DEPARTURE  FOR  SOO-CHOW. 


The  arrival  of  the  Mississippi  devolved  upon  us  the  charge  of 
the  Russian  and  American  notes,  and,  upon  consultation  with 
Messrs.  Robertson  and  Montigny,  the  English  and  French  con¬ 
suls,  and  the  American  Vice-consul,  it  was  decided  that  we  should 
proceed  thither  without  delay,  accompanied  by  those  gentlemen 
and  their  respective  interpreters.  As  Soo-chow  had  rarely  been 
visited  by  Europeans,  and  these  generally  only  when  disguised  as 
Chinamen,  or  concealed  from  observation  in  boats,  the  success  of 
our  experiment  was  very  doubtful.  Thus  much,  however,  was 
certain,  that  if  we  were  prevented  from  entering  the  city  we 
should  be  met  by  the  governor  outside  the  walls,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  American  commissioner,  Mr.  Maclane,  on  the  occasion  of 
his  visit  in  1854.  Mr.  Lay,  the  Inspector  of  Customs  at  Shang¬ 
hai,  whose  knowledge  of  the  language  and  local  experience  ren¬ 
dered  him  a  most  valuable  addition  to  our  party,  also  accompa¬ 
nied  us. 

We  left  Shanghai  on  the  afternoon  of  the  24th.  As  the  jour¬ 
ney  was  to  be  performed  by  water,  and  our  party  was  a  large  one, 
our  seventeen  boats  formed  quite  a  formidable  fleet ;  and,  as  our 
destination  was  not  a  mystery,  a  number  of  Chinese  were  collect¬ 
ed  to  see  us  sfart  on  so  novel  an  expedition. 

The  whole  delta  of  the  Yang-tse-Kiang  is  intersected  in  every 
direction  with  water-communication,  so  that  there  were  two  ways 
of  reaching  Soo-chow :  as  some  of  our  boats  were  of  a  large 
draught  of  water,  we  did  not  adopt  the  shortest  and  most  com¬ 
mon  route,  but  continued  for  some  distance  up  the  River  Wang- 
poo,  on  which  Shanghai  is  situated.  This  accidental  circumstance 
turned  out  the  principal  cause  of  our  ultimate  success.  We  an¬ 
chored  for  the  first  night  at  a  pagoda  a  few  miles  above  Shanghai, 
and  observed  a  mandarin  boat  immediately  moor  in  significant 
proximity  to  us.  We  subsequently  discovered  that  the  suspi¬ 
cions  we  entertained  at  the  time  were  correct,  and  that  our  every 
movement  had  been  minutely  recorded  by  a  petty  mandarin  sent 
to  watch  us. 

On  the  following  morning  we  proceeded  up  the  river,  our  prog¬ 
ress  being  somewhat  retarded  by  the  difficulty  we  found  in  keep¬ 
ing  our  squadron  together.  The  river  was  about  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  broad,  the  character  of  its  banks  remaining  unchanged. 
About  midday  we  left  it,  and  turned  into  a  broad  canal.  Where 
nature  has  provided  such  abundant  water-communication,  it  is 


CANAL  SCENES. 


135 


sometimes  difficult  to  distinguish  what  is  artificial  from  what  is 
natural ;  indeed,  most  of  the  channels  are  a  combination  of  both. 
No  doubt  it  is  in  a  great  measure  owing  to  the  extraordinary  fa¬ 
cility  which  exists  for  the  conveyance  of  produce  in  every  direc¬ 
tion  that  the  traffic  does  not  appear  so  extensive  as  it  really  is, 
and  as  the  density  of  the  population  would  lead  one  to  expect. 
Still,  although  the  canal  on  which  we  journeyed  was  in  no  degree 
crowded,  the  sails  of  numbers  of  junks  were  visible  above  the 
.  level  country,  through  which  they  seemed  impelled  by  some  mys¬ 
terious  and  hidden  influence.  The  population  here  is  not  so 
much  collected  into  large  villages  as  in  the  south,  but  is  scattered 
over  the  country  in  farms  and  hamlets,  imparting  to  the  otherwise 
uninteresting  scenery  that  air  of  domestic  comfort  and  civilization 
which  is  more  particularly  the  characteristic  of  Belgium  and  the 
Low  Countries. 

Every  where  the  population  were  industriously  engaged  in 
agricultural  pursuits ;  not  an  inch  of  ground  seemed  unculti  vated, 
not  a  resource  neglected  for  increasing  the  fertility  of  the  soil. 
Men  in  boats  were  scooping  the  rich  mud  from  the  bottom  of  the 
canals  with  primitive  dredges  made  of  basket-work,  which  opened 
and  shut  on  the  principle  of  snuffers;  and  as  they  vomited  their 
contents  into  the  bottom  of  the  boat,  they  opened  their  wide  jaws 
like  some  river  monster  disgorging  itself.  This  mud  was  dis¬ 
charged  into  a  receptacle  for  it  on  a  level  with  the  water,  where 
the  bank  had  been  excavated  for  the  purpose.  Half  way  up  the 
bank,  one  on  each  side  of  this  hole,  stood  two  persons,  each  hold¬ 
ing  the  end  of  a  rope,  to  the  middle  of  which  was  attached  a 
bucket,  which  they  ducked  into  the  mud  below,  and  then  jerked 
to  the  top  of  the  bank,  where  it  was  received  in  troughs  and  car¬ 
ried  away  to  manure  the  fields.  Such  and  many  other  novel 
and  ingenious  contrivances  we  observed  employed  by  the  labor¬ 
ers  with  whom  the  fields  teemed,  and  who  were  so  absorbed  by 
their  occupation  that  nothing  less  exciting  than  the  appearance  of 
a  posse  of  barbarians  would  have  interrupted  their  labors.  One 
could  not  help  making  the  unenlightened  and  antiquated  political 
economical  reflection  that  the  introduction  among  them  of  Eu¬ 
ropean  enterprise  and  discoveries  would  be  a  doubtful  boon  to 
persons  who  seemed  to  possess  all  the  elements  of  material  pros¬ 
perity,  and  who  so  richly  deserved  whatever  comforts  they  had  ob¬ 
tained  by  their  industry  and  ingenuity.  Of  course  it  was  impos- 


136 


STATE  OF  THE  POPULATION. 


sible  for  the  mere  passer  to  do  more  than  guess  how  far  they  en¬ 
joyed  substantial  happiness,  and  how  the  system  of  government 
under  which  they  lived  might  affect  their  domestic  comfort.  I 
have  heard  precisely  opposite  opinions  expressed  on  the  subject 
by  persons  whose  long  residence  in  the  country,  and  knowledge 
of  its  language  and  government,  entitled  their  authority  to  re¬ 
spect. 

According  to  my  own  observation,  however,  the  condition  of 
the  population  varies  as  much  in  different  parts  of  China  as  in  the  • 
British  dominions,  and  it  would  be  as  unfair  to  judge  of  the  merits 
of  the  government,  or  of  the  general  state  of  the  population  of  the 
empire,  by  the  people  of  Chili  or  Kiangsu,  as  it  would  be  to  form 
any  like  general  theory  in  our  own  country,  one  way  or  the  other, 
by  the  counties  of  Tipperary  or  Kent. 

We  passed  numerous  junks  hying  little  yellow  flags,  to  indicate 
that  they  were  loaded  with  their  annual  tribute  of  rice.  These 
junks  were  private,  but  pressed  for  the  time  into  the  service  of 
the  government.  Toward  evening  we  reached  and  crossed  the 
Lake  of  Meaou,  a  shallow  sheet  of  water,  but  of  considerable  ex¬ 
tent.  The  opposite  shore  was  not  visible  from  the  point  at  which 
we  entered. 

We  continued  our  voyage  during  the  greater  part  of  the  night, 
and  observed  strings  of  lanterns  hoisted  upon  poles,  which  we 
supposed  to  be  signals  of  our  progress.  Next  morning  I  was  told 
that  a  mandarin  had  been  on  board  the  boat  of  the  American 
Vice-consul,  and  informed  him  that  the  governor  Chaou  was  wait¬ 
ing  for  us  at  the  village  of  Kwan-shan,  upon  the  other  route  from 
Shanghai,  where  he  had  held  his  interview  with  Mr.  Maclane,  the 
plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States.  This  was  a  piece  of  inform¬ 
ation  which  we  were  determined  to  ignore,  as  it  proved  the  exist¬ 
ence  of  a  strong  desire  on  the  part  of  the  authorities  to  prevent 
our  entering  Soo-chow,  and  of  binding  us  by  the  same  precedent 
(which  we  had  determined,  if  possible,  to  break  through)  on  which 
they  had  insisted  in  the  case  of  the  American  minister.  Some 
light  has  been  thrown  on  this  event  by  the  papers  seized  in  Yeh’s 
yamun  at  Canton.  Among  them  is  the  memorial  of  Iliang,  Gov¬ 
ernor  General  of  the  Two  Kiangs,  upon  the  subject  of  his  interview 
with  Mr.  Maclane  at  Kwan-shan,  in  which  that  functionary  states 
that,  in  reply  to  Mr.  Maclane’s  request  to  be  allowed  to  deliver  a 
letter  in  person,  he  wrote  as  follows :  “If  the  chief  (Maclane)  de- 


BOAT-LIFE  ON  THE  CANALS. 


137 


sired  to  present  a  letter  from  liis  government  in  person,  lie  should 
follow  the  precedent  furnished  last  year  in  the  case  of  Marshall — 
hasten  back  to  Shanghai,  and  there  wait  till  Wu-kien-chang  should 
bring  him  to  Kwan-shan  to  introduce  him.  In  obedient  accord¬ 
ance  with  the  above  reply,  the  chief  did  presently  turn  back,  and 
having  transferred  himself  to  a  native  vessel,  was  brought,  on  the 
25th  of  the  5th  moon,  to  Kwan-shan  by  Wu-kien-chang.  Your 
slave,  having  with  him  Ping-han,  the  acting  Prefect  of  Soo-chow, 
for  long  employed  in  that  department,  and  thoroughly  versed  in 
business,  had  started  from  Soo-chow  on  the  24th,  and  also  arriving 
at  Kwan-shan  on  the  25th,  on  the  following  day  assembled  the  of¬ 
ficials  present  in  the  public  hall  of  Kwan-shan,  and  summoned  the 
chief  to  come  forward  and  pay  his  respects.  The  chief’s  manner, 
it  must  be  admitted,  was  reverential,”  etc.,  etc.  Then  follows  a 
detailed  account  of  the  audience,  and  the  arguments  used  by  Iliang 
to  dissuade  Mr.  Maclane  from  visiting  the  Peiho. 

Having  been  favored  by  fair  winds,  we  made  good  progress. 
Most  of  our  boats  sailed  admirably,  the  tall  masts  giving  our 
enormous  flat  sails  such  an  elevation  that  we  glided  rapidly 
through  the  water  under  the  influence  of  light  airs.  The  weath¬ 
er  was  lovely.  In  the  early  morning  a  thick  hoar-frost  covered 
the  fields ;  at  midday  it  was  pleasant  to  sit  on  the  deck  and  bask 
in  the  sunshine ;  and  at  night,  to  retire  into  the  snug  cabin,  stir 
the  coal  fire  in  the  stove  into  a  bright  glow,  and  enjoy  our  cigars 
together  after  dinner,  preparatory  to  separating  for  the  night  to 
our  respective  boats.  We  usually  stopped  for  breakfast  and  din¬ 
ner,  and  all  met  in  a  boat  reserved  expressly  for  a  common  din¬ 
ing-room.  I  was  indebted  to  my  kind  host  at  Shanghai,  Mr.  Mon- 
creiff,  for  a  most  comfortable  boat.  Indeed,  the  circumstances 
under  which  I  made  my  first  experiences  of  traveling  in  the  in¬ 
terior  of  China  were  calculated  to  impress  me  most  favorably ; 
and,  now  that  the  whole  of  this  vast  continent  is  about  to  be 
thrown  open  by  treaty  to  European  exploration,  there  can  be  lit¬ 
tle  doubt  that  the  great  facilities  of  transit  which  its  net- work  of 
water-communication  affords  will  be  duly  appreciated.  Seldom, 
indeed,  does  it  fall  to  the  lot  of  the  adventurous  traveler  in  an  un¬ 
known  country  to  pursue  the  work  of  discovery  surrounded  by 
so  many  of  the  appliances  of  comfort  and  civilization  as  he  may 
enjoy  when  engaged  in  the  “  exploitation ”  of  the  Celestial  Empire. 


138 


THE  IMPERIAL  GRAND  CANAL. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

The  imperial  Grand  Canal. — Arrival  at  Soo-chow . — Entry  of  the  City. — Curiosity 
of  the  Populace. — Reception  by  the  Governor. — A  complimentary  Dialogue. — A 
Chinese  official  Repast. — Politeness  of  our  Host. — Chinese  Etiquette. — Political 
Effect  of  our  Visit. — Reasons  against  exploring  the  City. — Exploration  of  the 
Water  Suburb. — The  Boat  Population. — Manners  and  Customs  of  the  People. — 
A  nocturnal  Visitation. — The  Tai-hoo  Lake. — A  Gale  of  Wind. — Residence  at 
Shanghai. — A  Dinner  with  the  Taoutai. — After-dinner  Conversation. — Departure 
for  Ningpo. — Ningpo. — The  Shops  and  Joss-houses. — The  old  Pagoda. 

When  day  broke  on  tlie  morning  of  the  26tli,  it  showed  us  the 
walls  and  pagodas  of  Soo-chqw,  distant  about  three  miles.  In 
order  to  deprive  the  governor  of  the  power  of  saying,  at  any  fu¬ 
ture  time,  that  we  had  taken  him  by  surprise,  and  slipped  into 
the  town  in  an  undignified  manner,  M.  de  Contades  concurred 
with  me  in  deeming  it  prudent  to  write  a  joint  letter  to  his  excel¬ 
lency,  informing  him  of  our  proximity  to  Soo-chow,  which  we 
followed  in  about  two  hours  afterward. 

We  had  entered  the  imperial  grand  canal  during  the  night,  and 
were  now  proceeding  along  that  once  celebrated  channel  of  the 
internal  commerce  of  the  empire.  Since  the  bursting  of  its  banks 
by  the  Yellow  River,  and  the  destruction  in  consequence  of  a 
section  of  this  canal,  it  has  not  been  used  for  the  last  five  years. 
The  vast  supplies  of  grain  which  were  annually  conveyed  along 
it  to  the  capital  are  now  sent  in  sea-going  junks  from  Shanghai, 
and  other  ports  of  the  Yang-tse-Kiang,  round  the  promontory  of 
Shantung,  and  up  the  Peiho  River.  The  expenses  incidental  to 
the  rebellion  have  prevented  the  government  from  spending  any 
money  in  repairing  this  magnificent  work.  The  consequence  is, 
that  the  enormous  imperial  grain-junks  formerly  employed  now 
line  the  bank  in  a  rotting  condition.  They  are  singular  specimens 
of  naval  architecture,  of  immense  solidity,  and  capable  of  trans¬ 
porting  from  two  to  three  hundred  tons  of  rice  each.  They  look 
like  so  many  stranded  arks  going  to  decay :  this  is  their  inevi¬ 
table  destiny,  as  the  profane  vulgar  are  not  allowed  to  touch  im¬ 
perial  property.  Their  valuable  timbers  were  crumbling  and 
worm-eaten,  and,  in  some  instances,  their  decks  grass-grown. 


CURIOSITY  OF  THE  POPULACE. 


139 


We  lowered  our  tapering  masts  to  pass  under  a  very  handsome 
stone  bridge,  which  spanned  the  canal  in  a  single  arch,  and  short¬ 
ly  after  reached  the  southeast  angle  of  the  city  wall.  The  view 
from  this  point  was  very  remarkable.  The  city  is  built  in  the 
shape  of  a  perfect  square,  each  side  four  miles  in  length.  On  two 
sides  the  grand  canal  washes  the  walls,  and  on  the  other  sides  two 
smaller  canals  complete  the  square.  We  were  at  the  junction  of 
one  of  these  with  the  grand  canal,  which  extended  before  us,  cov¬ 
ered  with  boats  and  lined  with  houses,  but  at  right  angles  to  the 
left  no  suburb  interrupted  our  view  of  the  four  miles  of  canal  and 
wall  which  stretched  in  one  unbroken  line  over  the  vast  plain. 
Here  a  messenger  arrived,  saying  that  the  governor  was  on  his 
way  to  meet  us,  and  suggesting  that  we  should  wait  for  him ;  but, 
anxious  to  get  inside  the  city  walls,  we  pressed  on,  threading  our 
way  in  line  along  the  densely  thronged  canal,  and  attracting  to 
its  banks  and  the  roofs  of  the  houses  crowds  of  eager  spectators, 
not  accustomed  to  see  British,  French,  and  American  flags  flaunt¬ 
ing  impudently  under  their  very  windows. 

We  appeared  so  suddenly  before  the  water-gate  called  “Foo- 
mun”  that  the  officials,  had  they  wished  it,  would  scarcely  have 
had  time  to  shut  it.  However,  they  contented  themselves  with 
making  the  most  frantic  gesticulations  and  expressive  signs  to  us 
to  turn  back ;  but  we  put  on  an  air  of  the  most  obtuse  stolidity, 
and  pushed  vehemently  on ;  my  boat,  which  happened  to  be  lead¬ 
ing,  carrying  away  in  the  hurry  some  of  the  grille  which  formed 
part  of  the  gate.  Once  in  the  city,  we  did  not  venture  on  an  ex¬ 
ploration  of  the  lanes  of  water,  which,  like  those  of  Venice,  opened 
up  in  divers  directions,  but  moored  at  once  in  a  retired  spot  under 
the  walls.  We  were  not  long,  however,  left  in  quiet.  Almost 
immediately  a  dense  crowd  collected  on  both  sides  of  the  canal, 
deeply  interested  in  the  proceedings  of  the  barbarians.  When¬ 
ever  any  of  us  moved  from  one  boat  to  another,  a  general  titter 
of  astonishment  and  curiosity  was  heard ;  but  they  manifested  no 
semblance  of  dislike  or  hostility  toward  us,  and  were  infinitely 
more  respectable  in  their  behavior  than  an  English  mob  would 
have  been  under  similar  circumstances. 

We  had  not  been  long  moored  here  before  the  aFoo,”  a  blue- 
button  mandarin,  came  with  a  message  from  the  governor  to  Mr. 
Lay,  who  was  an  old  acquaintance  of  his,  requesting  to  see  him  at 
the  west  gate.  In  about  two  hours  this  gentleman  returned  with 


140 


RECEPTION  BY  THE  GOVERNOR. 


the  welcome  intelligence  that  the  governor  would  receive  us  at 
his  yam un  in  the  centre  of  the  city,  and  would  immediately  send 
down  chairs  for  us  to  a  neighboring  wharf.  Accordingly,  we  pro¬ 
ceeded,  the  same  afternoon,  to  the  appointed  place,  the  whole  party, 
with  the  exception  of  M.  de  Contades  and  myself,  being  in  uni¬ 
form.  We  were  received  at  the  wharf  by  a  guard  of  soldiers,  and 
were  accompanied  by  them  during  our  progress  in  chairs  through 
the  city.  We  thus  traversed  a  distance  of  about  two  miles.  The 
streets  throughout  were  lined  with  spectators ;  the  windows,  house¬ 
tops,  and  bridges  were  thronged  with  an  eager  and  excited  popu¬ 
lace,  who  gazed  with  the  most  extraordinary  earnestness  at  prob¬ 
ably  the  first  barbarians  they  had  ever  seen  in  their  lives.  So 
rapt  in  contemplation  of  these  unknown  specimens  of  humanity 
were  they,  that  I  did  not  even  see  them  criticising  us  to  one  an¬ 
other,  much  less  did  they  manifest  any  signs  of  hostility  or  con¬ 
tempt  toward  us.  With  mouths  and  eyes  at  utmost  stretch,  they 
stared  in  perfect  silence.  I  observed  many  women  among  the 
crowd.  Soo-chow  is  celebrated  throughout  China  for  the  beauty 
of  its  women,  and  certainly  those  I  saw  did  not  belie  its  reputa¬ 
tion*  In  no  other  part  of  the  empire  have  I  seen  such  fair  com¬ 
plexions  or  regular  features.  In  Canton  the  women  are  absolute¬ 
ly  hideous ;  in  the  north  they  may  be  good-looking,  but  it  is  very 
difficult  to  catch  a  passing  glimpse  of  them,  so  shy  are  they  of  bar¬ 
barians  ;  but  in  Soo-chow  they  love  both  to  see  and  be  seen,  and 
with  good  reason.  The  Chinese  proverb  surely  lacks  wisdom 
which  says,  “To  be  happy  on  earth,  one  must  be  born  in  Soo- 
chow,  live  in  Canton,  and  die  in  Liauchau which  they  explain 
by  saying  that  those  born  in  Soo-chow  are  remarkable  for  person¬ 
al  beauty,  those  who  live  in  Canton  enjoy  the  richest  luxuries  of 
life,  and  those  who  die  in  Liauchau  easily  obtain  superior  coffins 
from  the  excellent  forest-trees  which  are  there  abundant. 

We  were  received  at  the  yamun  by  the  usual  Chinese  salute  of 
three  guns,  and  passed  through  the  several  courts  between  rows 
of  soldiers  and  attendants,  drawn  up  in  line  and  dressed  in  a  spe¬ 
cies  of  livery.  The  governor  met  us  with  great  politeness  at  the 
door  of  the  audience-hall,  and  seated  M.  de  Contades  and  myself 
on  the  raised  estrade,  which  usually  forms  the  centre  of  a  semi¬ 
circle  of  chairs  on  these  occasions,  and  is  considered  the  seat  of 
honor.  The  governor  himself  took  a  seat  to  our  right,  which,  in 
this  land  of  ceremonies,  was  considered  an  additional  compliment, 


A  COMPLIMENTARY  DIALOGUE. 


141 


inasmuch  as  the  farther  you  are  to  the  left  of  your  host  the  more 
highly  honored  is  your  position.  Then  follows  an  elaborate  in¬ 
terchange  of  compliments,  when  the  visitor  resigns  himself  entire¬ 
ly  to  the  good  offices  of  the  interpreter,  who  in  all  probability 
throws  them  into  somewhat  the  following  shape. 

English  gentleman,  who  has  never  seen  his  Chinese  host  before, 
expresses  his  pleasure  at  meeting  him. 

Interpreter.  “  His  excellency  has  long  looked  forward  to  this 
day.” 

Chinese  Dignitary.  “ 1  meet  him  now  as  an  old  friend,  and  re¬ 
quest  to  know  his  honorable  age.” 

Int.  “  His  excellency  has  profitlessly  passed  —  years.” 

Chin.  Dig.  “The  ears  of  his  excellency  are  long,  and  betoken 
great  ability.” 

Int.  “  Ah  !  oh !  He  is  unworthy  of  the  compliment.” 

Chin.  Dig.  “You  have  had  an  arduous  journey?” 

Int.  “  We  deserved  it.” 

Chin.  Dig.  “  I  trust  your  honorable  health  is  good.” 

Int.  “  Relying  on  3^0 ur  happy  auspices,  his  excellency’s  health 
is  still  robust.” 

Int.  “  The  great  emperor  of  your  honorable  nation,  is  he  well  ?” 

Chin.  Dig.  “  He  is  well.  The  great  sovereign  of  your  honor¬ 
able  nation,  is  she  well?” 

Int.  “  She  is  well.  Ho  the  troublesome  pests  (rebels)  still  infest 
the  country  ?” 

Chin.  Dig.  “  The  insects  are  being  speedily  exterminated.” 

Such,  I  have  little  doubt,  was  the  tone  of  conversation  which 
Mr.  Meadows  and  Chaou  kept  up  for  a  few  minutes,  until  we  went 
on  to  inform  his  excellency  that  we  were  the  bearers  of  notes  for 
the  prime  minister  Yu  from  the  four  powers,  which  were  of  the 
utmost  importance,  and  which,  we  trusted,  he  would  lose  no  time 
in  forwarding,  as  delay  in  their  transmission  might  seriously  com¬ 
promise  the  interests  of  the  empire.  The  covering  dispatch  to 
himself  he  opened  and  read,  a  crowd  of  attendants  collecting 
round  him  and  making  themselves  acquainted  with  its  contents 
over  his  shoulder.  As  we  desired  that  the  whole  proceeding 
should  be  invested  with  as  much  publicity  as  possible,  this  mode 
of  conducting  business,  though  rather  unusual  in  Western  diplo¬ 
macy,  was  quite  in  accordance  with  our  wishes. 

We  were  now  conducted  to  a  recess,  and  invited  to  partake  of 


142  A  CHINESE  OFFICIAL  REPAST.— POLITENESS  OF  OUR  HOST. 

an  extensive  display  of  fruits,  pastry,  and  preserves,  first,  however, 
being  invited  to  uncover  our  heads  by  our  host,  who  says,  “Will 
you  elevate  the  cap?”  On  which  he  is  answered,  “We  are  be¬ 
having  in  a  scandalously  outrageous  manner ;  forgive  our  crime 
by  which  we  mean  elegantly  to  apologize  for  the  liberty  we  are 
taking  in  sitting  down  bareheaded.  Then  we  engage  in  general 
conversation,  in  the  course  of  which  Chaou  makes  sundry  inquiries 
as  to  the  condition  of  Canton,  wishes  to  know  whether  we  are  go¬ 
ing  to  kill  Yeh,  and  when  the  embassadors  are  coming  north.  He 
also,  in  true  Chinese  style,  indulges  in  a  little  quiet  irony  at  the 
expense  of  us  all,  though  ostensibly  directed  at  our  worthy  consul, 
Mr.  Robertson,  who,  he  says,  must  be  glad  of  having  such  a  good 
opportunity  of  seeing  the  celebrated  city  of  Soo-chow ;  but  Mr. 
Robertson  protests  that  Chaou  himself  is  the  only  sight  worth 
looking  at.  Certainly  a  man  v[ko  is  governor  of  a  province  con¬ 
taining  thirty-eight  millions  of  inhabitants,  with  a  power  of  life 
and  death,  is  not  an  every-day  individual,  and  yet  he  is  only  the 
subordinate  of  the  Governor  General  of  the  Two  Kiangs,  who,  in 
his  turn,  is  a  responsible  officer. 

Chaou  was  the  best  specimen  of  a  Chinese  gentleman  I  had  yet 
seen  in  China :  nothing  could  be  more  dignified  or  courteous  than 
his  manner,  and  this  at  a  time  when  a  most  disagreeable  commis¬ 
sion  had  been  confided  to  him.  But  a  Chinaman  has  wonderful 
command  of  feature;  he  generally  looks  most  pleased  when  he 
has  least  reason  to  be  so,  and  maintains  an  expression  of  imper¬ 
turbable  politeness  and  amiability  when  he  is  secretly  regretting 
devoutly  that  he  can  not  bastinado  you  to  death.  On  this  occa¬ 
sion  our  accomplished  host  overwhelmed  us  with  civilities,  con¬ 
structed  pyramids  of  delicacies  on  our  plates,  and  insisted  on  our 
drinking  a  quantity  of  hot  wine,  obliging  us  to  turn  over  our 
glasses  each  time  as  a  security  against  heel-taps. 

Chaou’s  yamun  was  a  far  handsomer  residence  than  any  simi¬ 
lar  official  abode  in  Canton.  The  interior  was  invested  with  an 
air  of  comfort  unusual  in  China,  the  walls  nicely  papered,  and  the 
floor  carpeted.  The  whole  establishment  had  been  recently  put 
into  good  order,  and  was  altogether  a  fit  residence  for  so  elevated 
a  functionary. 

At  last  we  “begged  to  take  our  leave,”  and  began  violently  to 
“  tsing-tsing,”  a  ceremony  which  consists  in  clasping  your  hands 
before  your  breast,  and  making  a  crouching  baboon-like  gesture. 


CHINESE  ETIQUETTE. 


143 


It  is  the  equivalent  of  shaking  hands,  only  one. shakes  one’s  own 
hands  instead  of  another  person’s,  which  may  or  not  have  its  ad¬ 
vantages  :  in  China  the  custom  of  the  country  is  the  preferable 
one.  This  is  followed  by  a  scene  very  like  that  which  occurs  on 
similar  occasions  among  ourselves.  Our  host  insists  upon  follow¬ 
ing  us  to  our  chairs.  We  remonstrate — “  Stop,  stop,  stop,  we  are 
unworthy,”  say  we.  u  What  language  is  this  ?”  he  replies.  “We 
really  are  unworthy,”  we  reiterate.  u  You  are  in  my  house,”  he 
insists ;  and  so  we  back  to  our  chairs,  perpetually  imploring  him 
not  to  trouble  himself  by  accompanying  us,  which  he  vehement¬ 
ly  resists,  until  at  last,  when  we  are  in  our  chairs,  he  reluctantly 
consents  to  return,  apologizing  to  the  last  for  being  so  rude  as  to 
leave  us  even  then.  It  is  just  possible  that,  under  the  circum¬ 
stances,  his  satisfaction  at  getting  quit  of  us  had  as  much  to  do 
with  this  “  empressement”  as  his  sense  of  politeness. 

It  was  dark  when  we  returned  to  our  boats ;  and  so  much  had 
happened  to  excite  and  interest,  that,  even  had  it  not  been,  I  was 
not  in  a  humor  to  engage  in  the  work  of  accurate  observation. 
Our  expedition  had  terminated,  after  a  good  deal  of  anxiety,  in 
complete  success.  For  the  first  time  in  its  history,  barbarians  had 
made  an  official  entry  into  Soo-chow,  and  we  hoped  that  this  re¬ 
sult  would  not  be  without  an  important  political  effect.  In  a 
country  where  every  thing  is  established  by  precedent,  a  victory 
had  been  gained  over  Chinese  exclusiveness,  which,  in  the  exist¬ 
ing  state  of  our  relations  with  the  empire,  might  be  significant  of 
a  disposition  to  yield  at  last  to  that  Western  pressure  which  for 
so  many  years  has  been  so  successfully  resisted.  So  wonderfully 
jealous  are  Chinese  of  foreigners  entering  their  cities,  that  one  of 
the  first  requests  made  to  us  by  Chaou  was  that  we  should  leave 
the  city  immediately  after  the  interview,  which  we  agreed  to  do. 

Although  it  was  late  before  we  reached  our  boats,  we  determ¬ 
ined  to  keep  our  faith,  and  shifted  our  berth  to  a  wharf  outside 
the  west  gate,  opposite  a  yamun  at  which  we  had  invited  Chaou 
to  breakfast  with  us  on  the  following  morning.  This  ceremony, 
and  all  the  forms  of  etiquette  which  it  involved,  took  place  at  the 
appointed  hour;  but  there  was  an  addition  to  the  party  in  the 
person  of  the  Taoutai  of  Shanghai,  who  had  just  returned  from  a 
fruitless  expedition  to  Shanghai  in  search  of  us,  by  the  short 
route,  for  the  purpose  of  meeting  us,  and  so  preventing  our  reach¬ 
ing  Soo-chow.  We  enjoyed  a  quiet  laugh  at  his  expense,  and  he 


144 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  WATER  SUBURB. 


no  doubt  was  firmly  convinced  that  we  bad  designedly  effected  a 
very  clever  strategic  manoeuvre.  We  plied  both  our  guests  with 
quantities  of  Champagne  in  return  for  the  hot  wine  we  had  im¬ 
bibed,  at  the  peril  of  our  constitutions,  on  the  previous  evening. 

After  breakfast  we  expressed  ourselves  satisfied  with  the  re¬ 
ceipts  Chaou  had  sent  us  for  the  dispatches  we  had  delivered  to 
him,  and  our  guests  got  into  their  chairs  amid  a  profusion  of  re¬ 
grets  and  civil  speeches. 

Had  we  pressed  the  point,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  we 
should  have  been  allowed  to  visit  the  principal  objects  in  the  city 
under  favorable  circumstances;  but  many  reasons  combined  to 
render  this  inexpedient  at  the  time,  and  among  them  the  justifi¬ 
cation  which  it  would  have  afforded  to  the  governor’s  insinuation 
that  we  had  taken  advantage  of  a  political  mission  to  gratify  an 
idle  curiosity ;  so,  to  our  great  disappointment,  we  deemed  it  best 
to  content  ourselves  with  this  transient  glance  of  this  interesting 
city,  famed  as  the  birthplace  of  beauty,  and  the  cradle  of  all  that 
is  refined,  elegant,  and  fashionable  in  the  empire.  We  were  even 
unable,  as  we  passed  through  the  streets,  to  judge  of  the  shops,  so 
dense  was  the  crowd ;  and  the  only  remarkable  feature  I  could 
catch  in  passing  was  the  numerous  canals  intersecting  it  in  every 
direction,  spanned,  rialto  fashion,  by  high  single  arches,  and  with 
houses  rising  out  of  the  water  as  in  Venice. 

I  observe  that  Mr.  Fortune  has  added  as  little  to  our  previous 
limited  knowledge  of  Soo-chow  as  I  have,  but  he  is  less  excusa¬ 
ble,  as  he  seems  to  have  resided  there  for  some  time  in  the  dis¬ 
guise  of  a  Chinaman.  That  there  is  much  interesting  information 
connected  with  this  celebrated  city  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact 
that  a  Chinese  work,  called  the  Soo-chow-foo-chi,  in  forty  octavo 
volumes,  is  devoted  to  an  accouut  of  its  history,  monuments,  etc. 
Chaou  told  us  that  he  estimated  the  population  at  about  three 
millions. 

As  I  was  anxious  to  visit  the  large  lake  of  Tai-hoo  in  the  vi¬ 
cinity  of  Soo-chow,  I  parted  from  my  companions  shortly  after 
breakfast.  I  regretted  extremely  that  it  was  not  in  M.  de  Con- 
tades’  power  to  accompany  me,  as  I  had  found  in  that  gentleman 
not  only  a  most  agreeable  companion,  but  a  colleague  whose  en¬ 
ergy  and  tact  largely  contributed  to  the  successful  issue  of  our 
undertaking.  He  returned  direct  to  Shanghai,  while  Mr.  Lay  and 
I  proceeded,  in  the  first  instance,  to  explore  the  principal  water- 
suburbs  of  the  city.  We  followed  the  grand  canal  for  about  two 


THE  BOAT  POPULATION.  145 

miles.  As  far  as  I  could  judge,  its  average  breadth  was  about  100 
yards,  but  it  is  somewhat  difficult  to  form  a  very  accurate  estimate 
on  this  subject,  as  the  water  is  so  concealed  by  boats,  and  the  resi¬ 
dences  of  the  aquatic  and  terrestrial  population  so  much  resemble 
one  another,  that  it  is  not  always  easy  to  tell  where  the  water 
ends  and  the  land  begins.  A  narrow  lane  was  kept  clear  for 
traffic,  and  along  it  passed  innumerable  craft  of  every  description. 
There  were  as  many  different  varieties  of  boats  here  as  there  are 
of  vehicles  in  Fleet  Street,  and  the  water-way  was  as  inconven¬ 
iently  crowded  as  that  celebrated  thoroughfare  usually  is.  Ferry¬ 
boats  plied  as  briskly  and  were  as  heavily  loaded  as  omnibuses ; 
heavy  cargo-boats  lumbered  along  and  got  in  every  body’s  way, 
just  as  brewers’  drays  do.  Light  tanka-boats,  with  one  or  two 
passengers,  and  deftly  worked  by  a  single  oar  astern,  cut  in  and 
out  like  hansoms.  And  there  were  large  passage-boats  with  ac¬ 
commodation  for  travelers  on  long  journeys,  that  plied  regularly 
between  Soo-chow,  Hang-chow,  Chang-chow,  and  other  distant 
cities,  and  that  created  the  same  sort  of  sensation  as  they  passed 
as  did  the  Brighton  Age  or  Portsmouth  Telegraph  in  days  gone 
by.  Grentlemen’s  private  carriages  were  here  represented  by  gor¬ 
geous  mandarin  junks,  with  the  huge  umbrella  on  the  top,  and  a 
gong  at  the  entrance  to  the  cabin,  beaten  at  intervals  by  calfless 
flunkies.  Other  .junks  there  were,  more  gaudily  painted  even 
than  these,  from  whence  issued  shrill  voices,  and  sounds  of  noisjr 
laqghter  and  music.  There  was  the  costermonger  in  his  humble 
substitute  for  a  donkey-cart,  a  small  covered  canoe,  which  looked 
like  a  coffin,  and  in  which  he  sat  alone,  forcing  it  speedily  through 
the  water  with  a  pair  of  oars,  one  of  which  he  worked  astern  with 
his  hand,  and  the  other  at  the  side  with  his  feet.  The  race  of 
scavengers  lived  in  flat  punts,  and,  scooping  up  the  mud  and  rub¬ 
bish  from  the  bottom  of  the  canal,  discharged  it  into  them,  where 
it  was  immediately  examined  by  a  number  of  ducks  kept  on  board 
for  the  purpose,  who  picked  out  all  that  was  worth  eating,  and 
what  they  rejected  was  then  inspected  by  their  owners  for  waifs 
and  strays  that  had  been  lost  from  junks,  and  then  taken  to  fatten 
the  land.  But  the  most  curious  appearance  was  presented  by  the 
boats  which  carried  the  fishing*  cormorants,  solemnly  perched  in 
successive  rows  on  stages  projecting  from  the  sides;  they  looked 
like  a  number  of  gentlemen  in  black  on  the  platform  at  a  meet¬ 
ing  of  a  grave  and  serious  character. 

K 


146  MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 


We  liad  passed  round  three  sides  of  the  city,  and  yet  I  was  no 
more  tired  of  observing  and  watching  the  manners  and  customs 
of  the  inhabitants  than  they  were  of  observing  mine.  Nor,  un¬ 
fortunately,  can  I  be  sure  that  I  am  giving  a  more  accurate  de¬ 
scription  of  them  than  they  would  of  me ;  in  a  country  like  China, 
the  traveler  can  trust  less  to  first  impressions  than  in  any  other ; 
when  nothing  is  superficial,  a  superficial  survey  can  not  be  de¬ 
pended  upon.  Every  minute  detail  in  their  manners  and  habits 
of  life  bears  the  stamp  of  antiquity,  has  had  its  origin  in  some 
excellent  reason,  and  possesses  a  special  adaptability  to  the  pur¬ 
pose  for  which  it  is  designed,  which  is  not  at  first  sight  apprecia¬ 
ble  by  an  utter  stranger.  One  gazes  at  a  party  of  Chinamen  at 
work  very  much  as  one  would  at  beavers  or  bees.  Their  results 
are  startling,  and  their  mode  of  arriving  at  them  defies  imitation 
by  an  ordinary  mortal.  , 

Turning  sharp  out  of  the  grand  canal,  we  passed  down  a  nar¬ 
rower  one,  under  high  bridges,  between  tall  houses  with  turned- 
up  eaves,  and  balconies  full  of  people,  and  quaint  gates  and  arch¬ 
ways  covered  with  moral  inscriptions,  and  so  into  the  open  coun¬ 
try,  where  our  men  jumped  out  upon  the  paved  towing-path,  and 
dragged  us  rapidly  between  interminable  green  fields,  stretching 


Canal  Scene  near  Soo-chow. 


A  NOCTURNAL  VISITATION. 


147 


to  the  horizon,  except  in  the  direction  we  were  going,  where  a 
range  of  low  hills,  purpled  b y  the  setting  sun,  gave  promise  of  an 
approach  to  the  picturesque.  We  met  numbers  of  other  boats 
being  tracked  in  like  manner,  and  passed  under  high  single-arch¬ 
ed  bridges,  like  those  the  pictures  of  which  first  imbued  our  in¬ 
fantine  minds  with  notions  of  Chinese  quaintness  in  the  willow- 
pattern  plate.  I  only  observed  one  which  was  of  a  different  con¬ 
struction  in  a  town  through  which  the  canal  passed :  it  consisted 
of  three  arches,  and  on  the  middle  one  a  building  was  erected 
with  a  twisted  roof,  and  crowds  of  people  gazed  at  us  from  be¬ 
neath  it.  We  observed  here  the  commencement  of  those  fields 
of  mulberry-trees,  which,  extending  throughout  the  departments 
of  Kiashing  and  Hoo-chow,  render  these  the  most  celebrated  silk- 
producing  districts  in  the  province. 

Just  as  we  were  going  to  bed  we  were  aroused  by  shouts  which 
called  us  on  deck  to  witness  a  most  romantic  sight :  a  full  moon 
was  lighting  up  the  silent  water-ways  of  a  picturesque  old  town, 
full  of  bridges  and  gaunt  houses ;  the  canal  was  so  narrow  that  we 
had  great  difficulty  in  squeezing  past  the  few  boats  already  moor¬ 
ed  in  it ;  from  its  edge  rose  houses  three  stories  high,  completely 
shutting  in  dark  mysterious  lanes,  which  turned  off  in  every  di¬ 
rection,  allowing  only  here  and  there  a  gleam  of  silvery  light  to 
play  upon  the  surface  of  the  water.  The  inhabitants,  unused  to 
so  late  a  visitation,  peered  curiously  at  us  from  their  latticed  win¬ 
dows,  and  bright  rays  shot  across  our  gloomy  paths  as  one  after 
the  other  these  were  opened.  The  stream  was  strong  against  us, 
*  the  street  was  a  long  one,  and  as  there  was  no  towing-path,  it  was 
some  time  before  we  had  punted  through  it,  and  were  clear  of  the 
long  shadows  of  its  lofty  houses.  We  reached  the  edge  of  the 
lake  shortly  after  this,  and  anchored  for  the  night. 

The  morning  was  still  and  foggy,  and  the  shores  of  the  lake 
were  concealed  from  us  in  almost  every  direction ;  we  were  five 
hours  sailing  slowly  across  to  a  high  projecting  promontory,  call¬ 
ed  Tung-ting-shan.  Ascending  the  hill — for  the  day  had  cleared 
— we  had  an  extensive  view :  not  far  distant  a  high-wooded  isl¬ 
and  seemed  to  float  on  the  still  surface  of  the  lake,  and  beyond  it 
the  blue  outline  of  the  mountains  that  formed  the  opposite  shore 
were  dimly  visible.  At  our  feet,  skirting  the  bay,  lay  the  secluded 
little  village  at  which  we  had  landed,  embowered  in  trees,  above 
which  curled  wreaths  of  smoke ;  a  spur  of  the  promontory  sepa- 


148 


A  GALE  OF  WIND. 


rated  it  from  another  village  which  seemed  the  twin  brother  of 
the  first,  so  exactly  did  it  resemble  in  situation  and  extent.  We 
descended  into  it,  and  were,  of  course,  immediately  surrounded  by 
the  whole  population.  They  were  perfectly  good-humored  in 
manner,  and  when  we  threw  handfuls  of  copper  cash  among  them, 
the  juvenile  community  indulged  in  a  universal  scramble,  in  which 
some  of  the  elders  even  condescended  to  join.  I  would  gladly 
have  spent  another  day  on  the  Tai-hoo,  but  was  afraid  of  missing 
the  mail  from  Shanghai;  so  we  returned  in  time  to  pass  through 
our  old  town  of  the  night  before  by  moonlight  again,  and  here 
diverged  from  our  former  route. 

In  the  middle  of  the  night  I  was  disturbed  by  a  violent  shock, 
to  which  I  was  indebted  for  a  view  of  a  famous  bridge  across  an 
expansion  of  the  grand  canal,  mentioned  by  Mr.  Ellis,  in  his  ac- 
acount  of  Lord  Amherst’s  Embassy,  as  having  ninety  arches.  I 
only  counted  fifty -three,  and  the  moonlight  was  so  bright  that  I 
do  not  think  I  was  mistaken  in  the  number.  The  next  day  we 
entered  the  Meaou  Lake  again,  and  crossed  it  with  a  fair  wind,  in 
company  with  a  large  and  picturesque  fleet,  which  must  have 
been  composed  of  some  hundreds  of  junks.  This  breeze  freshen¬ 
ed  into  a  gale  the  day  after,  and  involved  a  tough  beat  down  the 
river  to  Shanghai.  My  canal-boat,  so  delightful  in  calm  weather, 
was  by  no  means  adapted  for  such  an  emergency :  having  no  keel, 
she  was  extremely  crank,  and  whenever  she  went  about,  every 
thing  loose  in  the  cabin  fetched  away ;  and,  to  crown  all,  when 
they  were  jumbled  in  picturesque  confusion  on  the  floor,  my 
stove  upset,  and  shot  its  contents  of  glowing  coals  into  the  middle 
of  them.  As  this  was  close  to  Shanghai,  I  narrowly  escaped  sig¬ 
nalizing  my  return  to  that  place  by  a  grand  conflagration. 

I  remained  for  ten  days  at  Shanghai,  enjoying  the  hospitality 
of  its  merchant  princes,  and  the  invigorating  effects  of  its  bracing- 
winter  climate.  Of  all  the  spots  upon  the  coast  of  the  Celestial 
Empire  at  which  Europeans  have  established  themselves,  it  is  cer¬ 
tainly  the  pleasantest  as  a  residence.  With  a  society  almost  as 
numerous  as  Hong  Kong,  there  is  much  agreeable  social  inter¬ 
course,  owing,  no  doubt,  in  a  great  measure,  to  the  fact  that  it  is  the 
Ultima  Thule  of  civilization,  and  has  not  yet  been  forced  into  ex¬ 
clusiveness  by  miscellaneous  hordes  making  it  a  house  of  call ; 
while,  as  a  foreign  community  in  a  distant  land,  it  is  not  subject 
to  those  political  dissensions  which  so  often  distract  our  own  colo- 


RESIDENCE  AT  SHANGHAI. 


149 


nies.  There  is,  moreover,  an  air  of  substantial  prosperity  about 
Shanghai,  which  occasionally  expands  into  magnificence,  and  dis¬ 
plays  itself  in  palatial  residences,  and  an  expensive  style  of  living ; 
but  there  is  also,  unhappily,  a  gloomy  side  to  the  picture,  and 
there  are  years  when  an  unfortunately  heavy  venture  in  silk  on 
the  part  of  the  community  results  in  a  corresponding  reduction 
of  crinoline. 

Situated  on  the  flat  bank  of  the  river,  Shanghai  owes  none  of 
its  charms  to  the  picturesque;  but  the  handsome  houses  which 
line  the  shore  for  a  distance  of  two  miles  give  it  an  imposing  ap¬ 
pearance  as  approached  from  the  sea.  The  English  section  of  the 
town,  though  not  confined  exclusively  to  British  subjects,  is  the 
largest.  It  lies  between  the  French  and  American.  Each  of 
these  different  quarters  is  inhabited  by  subjects  of  other  countries. 
The  boundary  of  the  French  concession  is  the  city  wall.  The  city 
is  about  three  miles  in  circumference,  and  contains  a  population 
of  about  300,000.  As  all  the  Chinese  towns  of  its  class  are  so 
like  each  other  as  to  be  almost  undistinguishable,  and  have  been 
repeatedly  described,  I  will  only  say  of  Shanghai  that  it  is  chiefly 
celebrated  for  old  China,  inlaid  copper,  and  other  objects  of  “vir¬ 
tu,”  which  it  imports  from  Soo-chow  to  meet  the  European  demand. 
It  has  suffered  a  good  deal  from  the  occupation  of  the  rebels,  and 
its  once  famous  tea-gardens  are  now  a  mass  of  grotesque  rock- 
work  and  debris,  but  little  frequented,  and  which,  in  their  best 
days,  must  have  been  rather  quaint  than  pretty. 

I  was  glad  to  have  an  opportunity  at  Shanghai  of  renewing  my 
acquaintance  with  the  Taoutai,  whom  I  found  to  be  a  person  of 
considerable  intelligence  and  enlightenment.  One  day  I  dined 
with  him,  and  partook,  not  of  a  flimsy  refection,  such  as  those 
usually  offered  on  such  occasions,  but  of  a  good  substantial  re¬ 
past,  beginning  with  bird’s-nest  soup,  followed  by  shark’s  fins, 
beche  de  mer ,  and  other  indescribable  delicacies,  as  entrees ,  then 
mutton  and  turkey,  as  pieces  de  resistance ,  carved  at  a  side-table  in 
a  civilized  manner,  and  handed  round  cut  up  into  mouthfuls,  so 
that  the  refined  chopstick  replaced  throughout  the  rude  knife  and 
fork  of  the  West.  We  may  certainly  adopt  with  advantage  the 
more  elegant  custom  of  China  in  this  respect ;  and  as  we  have 
ceased  to  carve  the  joints  in  dishes,  make  the  next  step  in  advance, 
and  no  longer  cut  up  slices  of  them  in  our  plates.  There,  how¬ 
ever,  we  might  stop :  the  usage  of  stretching  across  the  table,  and 


150 


A  DINNER  WITH  THE  TAOUTAI. 


collecting  a  heap  of  delicacies  from  every  dish  in  your  neighbor’s 
plate,  as  a  mark  of  politeness,  is  decidedly  objectionable.  Some 
of  the  dishes  were  so  constructed  as  to  admit  of  a  small  charcoal 
fire  in  the  centre,  so  that  the  soup  or  viands  surrounding  it  were 
kept  constantly  warm.  There  were  wines  of  different  qualities, 
but  principally  extracted  from  millet-seed,  and  always  drunk 
warm ;  and  after  dinner  some  very  strong  but  delicately  flavored 
tea,  called  red,  which  answers  the  purpose  of  coffee  as  a  digestive, 
and  simply  differs  from  the  green  in  being  subjected  for  a  much 
longer  time  to  the  steaming  process.  The  green  tea,  which  is  the 
least  powerful  and  most  refreshing,  is  a  milder  infusion,  the  leaf 
being  slightly  dried  over  a  fire  and  still  green.  This  was  follow¬ 
ed  by  some  delicious  almond  tea.  The  guests  upon  the  occasion 
were  Mr.  Robertson,  Mr.  John  Meadows,  and  myself,  the  Haefan- 
ting  or  prefect,  and  the  principal  military  mandarin  in  Shanghai. 
The  conversation  turned  chiefly  on  a  comparison  of  the  different 
administrative  systems  of  England  and  China,  interspersed  with 
the  most  fulsome  compliments,  with  now  and  then  a  feeler  thrown 
out  by  the  Taoutai  on  the  subject  of  existing  troubles,  when  his 
endeavors  to  conceal  his  desire  to  gain  as  much  information  as 
possible  on  our  probable  policy  were  highly  diverting. 

I  did  not  venture  to  broach  a  subject  to  his  excellency  on  which 
I  was  no  less  anxious  to  be  informed.  Shanghai  is  the  principal 
port  for  the  export  of  the  annual  supply  of  rice  to  the  north. 
Thousands  of  junks  bound  for  the  mouth  of  the  Peiho  leave  the 
river  in  successive  fleets  during  the  spring  months,  and  it  was  im¬ 
portant  that  we  should  know  the  intentions  of  the  Taoutai  for  the 
ensuing  year,  and  discover,  if  possible,  the  quantity  of  grain  to  be 
exported,  and  the  different  ports  at  which  it  was  to  be  collected, 
as  well  as  the  date  of  the  earliest  departure.  In  the  event  of  our 
finding  it  necessary  to  operate  in  the  north,  one  of  the  most  im¬ 
portant  means  of  pressure  which  could  be  brought  to  bear  upon 
the  capital  was  by  intercepting  this  supply,  which  it  would  be  in 
our  power  to  do,  with  a  few  gun-boats  in  the  Gulf  of  Pechelee. 
At  this  time  the  river  opposite  the  town  was  covered  with  a  dense 
forest  of  the  masts  of  junks,  all  waiting  for  clearances  to  Tientsin. 
We  were  afterward  informed  by  the  custom-house  authorities  that 
the  amount  of  rice  to  be  sent  to  the  north  from  Shanghai  alone 
was  about  300,000  piculs. 

As  Lord  Elgin  was  expected  at  Ningpo  from  the  south  about 


DEPARTURE  FOR  NINGPO. 


151 


this  time,  I  proceeded  thither  in  the  dispatch  gun-vessel  Surprise 
to  meet  him.  At  midday  on  the  14th  of  March  we  reached  the 
month  of  the  Ningpo  Kiver,  having  run  over  in  about  twenty- 
four  hours.  After  the  dead  level  of  the  valley  of  the  Yang-tse- 
Kiang,  the  approach  to  this  river  is  sufficiently  picturesque.  To 
the  right  a  bold  promontory,  about  200  feet  in  height,  surmount¬ 
ed  by  a  fort,  overlooks  the  city  of  Chinhae,  the  walls  of  which  ex¬ 
tend  along  both  the  river-bank  and  sea-shore;  numbers  of  junks 
block  up  the  passage,  and  render  great  skill  in  steering  necessary. 
Most  of  these  are  loaded  with  timber  from  Fokien,  and  their  un¬ 
sightly  burdens  extend  on  either  side  for  some  distance,  almost 
concealing  the  junk  itself,  and  giving  it  somewhat  the  appearance 
which  a  donkey  presents  when  buried  between  two  bundles  of 
hay.  Considerable  ingenuity  must  have  been  exercised  in  load¬ 
ing  these  junks,  by  means,  as  I  understood,  of  stays  from  the 
masts. 

As  we  proceed  up  the  river,  the  hills  recede  to  some  distance, 
and  here  and  there  picturesque  valleys  open  up  through  them. 
The  immediate  banks  are  flat,  and  chiefly  remarkable  for  a  num¬ 
ber  of  erections  which  look  like  enormous  haystacks,  but  which 
are  really  ice-houses,  for  the  preservation  of  fish.  They  are  obliged 
by  law  to  contain  a  three  years’  supply  alwa'ys  in  store.  It  is  only 
about  twelve  miles  to  Ningpo,  which  we  reached  at  sunset.  The 


following  day  was  dedicated  to  an  inspection  of  the  city,  which 
decidedly  ranks  first  among  those  at  present  open  to  Europeans. 
It  is  situated  at  the  confluence  of  two  rivers,  contains  a  popula- 


152  NINGPO.— ITS  SHOPS  AND  JOSS-HOUSES. 

tion  of  about  a  quarter  of  a  million,  and  is  five  miles  in  circum¬ 
ference.  A  bridge  of  boats,  200  hundred  yards  long,  connects  it 
with  the  principal  suburb.  But  few  Europeans  reside  here,  and 
they  live  principally  opposite  the  city,  on  the  bank  of  the  lesser 
of  the  two  rivers.  Ningpo  is  celebrated  for  having  produced 
some  of  the  ablest  scholars  in  China,  and  numerous  triumphal 
arches,  in  honor  of  those  of  her  sons  who  have  carried  off  the 
highest  honors  at  competitive  examinations,  span  the  principal 
streets.  They  are  constructed  of  granite,  and  ornamented  with 
specimens  of  singularly  clever  carving ;  in  some  instances  the  slab 
has  been  cut  through,  and  presents  an  open  net-work  of  carving 
of  the  nicest  delicacy.  In  others,  the  beauty  of  the  workmanship 
is  exhibited  in  the  wonderful  relief  with  which  the  most  intricate 
patterns  are  made  to  stand  out  from  the  solid  granite. 

The  book-shops  of  Ningpo'  are  worthy  its  high  literary  reputa¬ 
tion  ;  and,  indeed,  the  shops  of  every  description  were-  superior 
to  those  at  any  of  the  other  ports.  At  that  popularly  known  as 
Fortnum  and  Mason’s,  we  used  to  sit  down  and  drink  exquisite 
tea,  while  various  delicate  conserves  were  being  produced  for  trial, 
and  smoke  minute  pipes  full  of  mild  tobacco  at  intervals. 

In  the  best  shops  there  is  usually  an  outer  and  an  inner  shop, 
separated  from  each  other  by  a  glass-covered  veranda.  The  in¬ 
ner  room  is  generally  a  spacious  apartment,  fitted  up  with  shelves, 
and  pigeon-holes,  and  drawers,  much  as  in  England ;  and  with 
extensive  counters,  behind  which  stand  pale,  studious-looking 
men  with  intelligent  countenances,  who  measure  out  yards  of  silk, 
or  display  crapes  and  gauzes  with  the  same  insinuating  grace 
which  distinguishes  their  brotherhood  in  our  own  country. 

Ningpo  is  noted  for  the  excellence  of  its  wood-carving  and  in¬ 
laying.  The  embroidery  in  silk  and  satin  is  often  beautiful. 
Occasionally  old  China  may  be  picked  up,  but  the  supply  in  this 
article  is  not  equal  to  the  demand.  Soap-stone  carving  is  abund¬ 
ant,  but  may  be  procured  more  cheaply  at  Foo-chow. 

The  joss-house  dedicated  to  the  goddess  Ma  Tsupu,  and  main¬ 
tained  by  the  Shantung  guild,  a  flourishing  corporation,  was  the 
handsomest  building  of  the  kind  I  had  seen  in  China.  The  ve¬ 
randas  and  roofs  were  supported  by  freestone  columns,  carved 
into  the  forms  of  dragons  and  other  unearthly  monsters,  while 
elaborate  representations  in  gaudy  colors  and  delicate  tracery 
adorned  the  walls.  Fishes  standing  on  their  tails,  and  dragons 


THE  OLD  PAGODA.— A  “SING-SING  JOSS.” 


158 


with  their  mouths  open,  ornamented  the  ridges  of  the  roofs,  and 
terminated  in  grotesque  turrets  the  projecting  eaves.  The  city  is 
intersected  at  intervals  of  two  or  three  hundred  yards  by  fire¬ 
walls,  so  as  to  confine  the  ravages  of  that  destructive  element 
within  narrow  limits. 

The  visitor  is  amply  repaid  for  the  trouble  of  ascending  the 
old  pagoda  by  the  view  which  is  obtained  from  the  windy  sum¬ 
mit  of  its  seven  stories.  The  position  of  the  city  and  the  direc¬ 
tion  of  the  rivers  lie  mapped  at  his  feet,  with  the  blue  mountains 
in  the  distance,  which  inclose  the  lakes  and  the  snowy  valley, 
and  the  picturesque  sights  of  the  neighborhood.  This  pagoda  is 
1100  years  old  and  160  feet  in  height. 

I  was  fortunate  enough,  one  day,  to  witness  a  “  sing-sing  joss” 
in  one  of  the  principal  temples.  The  disagreeable  necessity  of 
being  obliged  to  form  one  of  a  dense  crowd  of  very  odoriferous 
Chinamen  prevented  my  staying  very  long,  nor  was  the  plot  of 
so  refined  a  nature  as  to  render  the  performance  attractive ;  but 
the  acting  was  in  some  instances  clever,  and  the  female  characters 
admirably  sustained  by  men  whose  treble  voices,  and  apparently 
distorted  feet,  rendered  the  disguise  perfect.  The  audience  seem¬ 
ed  deeply  interested;  and  the  comic  episodes,  in  which  a  good 
deal  of  rather  coarse  humor  was  displayed,  elicited  shouts  of 
laughter. 

The  neighborhood  of  Ningpo  was  reported  more  worth  seeing 
than  the  town  itself ;  and  as  the  scenery  I  had  already  visited  in 
China  possessed  but  small  merit  in  a  picturesque  point  of  view,  I 
was  glad  to  accede  to  the  proposal  of  Captain  Saumarez,  of  H.  M. 
S.  Cormorant,  that  we  should  occupy  the  interval  until  the  arrival 
of  Lord  Elgin  by  an  expedition  to  the  Snowy  Valley. 


154 


AN  EXPEDITION  TO  THE  SNOWY  VALLEY. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

All  Expedition  to  the  Snowy  Valley. — Mountain  Scenery. — The  Temple  of  the 
Snowy  Crevice. — The  Maou-kao-tae. — The  “Thousand  Fathom  Precipice.” — 
Sewe-kang-ha. — Our  Fellow-lodgers. — The  Dragon  Waterfall. — Departure  from 
the  Snowy  Valley. — Mountain  Men. — A  Voyage  on  bamboo  Rafts. — Raft  Navi¬ 
gation. — Arrival  at  Cbusan. — A  Roman  Catholic  Mission. — A  Chinese  country 
Residence. — Political  Advantages  of  Chusan. — A  British  Grave-yard. — The  sa¬ 
cred  Island  of  Pootoo. — A  degraded  Priesthood. — The  High-priest. — Picturesque 
Temples. — Pilgrims. — Magnificent  View. — Chapoo. 

Mr.  Thomas  Meadows  liad  been  kind  enough  to  furnish,  us 
not  only  with  a  guide,  but  with  most  accurate  information  as  to 
the  sights  to  be  seen  in  the  Snowy  Talley,  and  the  best  way  to 
see  them.  The  first  part  of  our  journey  was  performed  at  night, 
in  a  covered  boat  of  small  dimensions,  and  which  was  propelled 
by  a  single  oar  astern.  However,  we  had  the  tide  with  us,  and 
daylight  found  us  moored  under  a  covered  bridge,. where  we  were 
to  transfer  ourselves  to  mountain  chairs,  and  our  baggage  to  the 
shoulders  of  stalwart  porters.  For  the  first  three  hours  our  way 
lay  over  the  flat  banks  of  the  river,  along  the  paved  ridges  which 
separated  fields  of  beans,  rice,  wheat,  cabbages,  and  all  the  varied 
assortment  of  Chinese  cultivation.  We  only  recrossed  the  river 
once  by  a  bridge,  where  massive  slabs  of  granite,  about  twenty- 
five  feet  in  length  each,  were  laid  upon  the  wooden  piles.  The 
valley  now  began  to  narrow,  and  the  hills,  with  an  elevation  of 
from  1200  to  1500  feet,  to  disclose  rocky  gorges  and  narrow  val¬ 
leys,  where  strips  of  wood  and  pine  forest  clothed  the  steep  sides, 
and  the  navigation  of  the  river,  except  for  rafts  of  bamboo,  had 
ceased  altogether.  Then  we  brace  ourselves  for  the  climb,  and, 
discarding  our  light  mountain  chairs,  we  left  them  to  follow,  con¬ 
tented  that  they  should  form  a  picturesque  feature  of  the  proces¬ 
sion  as  it  wound  up  the  steep  rocky  paths. 

Our  way  led  through  young  pine  woods,  the  smaller  branches 
of  which  had  been  lopped  for  firewood,  and  passed  along  the  pre¬ 
cipitous  side  of  the  hill  in  which  it  had  been  scarped.  When  we 
had  attained  an  elevation  of  about  1000  feet,  and  looked  back 
from  a  projecting  spur  in  the  range,  a  beautiful  panoramic  view 


THE  ‘ ‘  TEMPLE  OF  THE  SNOWY  CKEVICE.” 


155 


met  the  eye.  The  valley  we  had  traversed  in  the  morning,  dotted 
with  scattered  villages,  and  divided  by  the  river  winding  away  to 
the  horizon  like  a  silver  thread,  lay  at  our  feet,  while  on  our  right 
pendulous  woods  of  bamboo  covered  the  steep  slopes  of  the  mount¬ 
ain:  planted  with  perfect  regularity,  their  feathery  plumes,  of 
varied  hues  and  exquisite  grace  of  form,  waved  gently  in  the 
breeze. 

Taking  a  last  look  at  this  lovely  scene,  we  reached  in  a  few 
steps  the  summit  of  the  pass,  and,  crossing  it,  found  ourselves  in  an 
amphitheatre  surrounded  by  partially  wooded  hills,  in  the  midst 
of  which  the  most  prominent  object  was  the  group  of  quaint,  ga¬ 
bled,  upturned-cornered  houses,  which  formed  the  “  Temple  of  the 
Snowy  Crevice:”  this  was  to  be  our  resting-place  for  the  night. 
Here  we  were  received  by  sundry  bonzes,  in  black  or  gray  serge, 
with  shaven  crowns,  who  were  dispensing,  at  the  charge  of  a  few 
“  cash,”  yellow  tickets  for  the  celestial  regions  to  groups  of  female 
devotees,  of  whom  we  had  already  passed  many  on  the  hill-side, 
helping  themselves  along  upon  their  little  feet — so  ill  adapted  to 
the  mountains — by  means  of  stout  staves.  A  number  of  them, 
with  ruddy  countenances,  by  no  means  uncomely,  and  whose  neat 
attire  and  comfortable  embonpoint  gave  evidence  of  a  domestic 
condition  of  ease  and  independence,  knelt  upon  small  circular 
mats  or  hassocks,  and  prostrated  themselves  before  a  row  of  gods 
and  goddesses,  the  largest  of  which,  in  the  centre,  was  about  twenty - 
five  feet  in  height.  Huge  black  images,  with  ferocious  counte¬ 
nances  and  drawn  swords,  guarded  the  sanctity  of  the  temple ;  and 
near  them  was  a  handsome  bell,  where  the  officiating  priest  kept 
up  a  low  monotonous  chant,  and  tapped  a  little  bell  as  the  signal 
for  genuflexion  or  prostration  on  the  part  of  the  congregation, 
who  were  in  the  mean  time  burning  little  pieces  of  yellow  paper, 
lighting  joss-sticks,  or  telling  their  rosaries.  In  another  hall  a 
number  of  persons  were  employed  in  manufacturing  bamboo 
mats.  We  were  compelled  to  pass  through  these  holy  places  on 
our  way  to  our  bedroom,  which  was  in  a  range  of  buildings  at  the 
back. 

As  we  had  yet  a  few  hours  of  daylight,  we  procured  at  the 
temple  a  guide,  by  name  Kim-bau,  who  should  be  immortalized 
in  the  first  hand-book  which  Mr.  Murray  publishes  of  these  re¬ 
gions.  He  had  been  initiated  into  the  mysteries  of  ciceroneship 
by  Mr.  Meadows,  and,  although  innocent  of  any  language  but  his 


156 


THE  MAOU-KAO-TAE. 


mother  tongue,  had  learned  his  lesson,  and  took  us  to  every  point 
of  view  with  scrupulous  precision.  First  we  went  to  the  Maou- 
kao-tae,  where  a  priest’s  little  house  is  built  upon  a  projecting 
ledge  of  rock  that  overhangs  a  precipice  1000  feet  high  by  ane¬ 
roid  measurement,  to  the  edge  of  which  we  crept  cautiously  and 
looked  over  broad  fertile  valleys  intersected  by  rivers,  which  met 
lovingly  and  flowed  away  to  water  distant  fields.  The  hill-sides 
were  terraced  with  rice  and  other  cultivation,  in  some  places  to 
their  summits,  at  others  the  high  lands  were  wooded,  and  strips 
of  forest  marked  the  course  of  impetuous  torrents  tumbling  into 
the  glistening  streams  beneath.  A  town  lay  peacefully  sleeping- 
in  the  midst  of  the  principal  valley,  and  tiny  figures  could  be  dis¬ 
tinguished  working  in  the  fields,  or  following  the  winding  paths. 


THE  “THOUSAND-FATHOM  PRECIPICE.” 


157 


The  scenery  altogether  reminded  me  of  the  Mahabuleshwar  Hills, 
where,  however,  the  precipices  are  higher.  From  here  we  scram¬ 
bled  along  the  edge  of  the  precipice  for  a  few  hundred  yards  un¬ 
til  we  reached  the  waterfall  called  the  11  Thousand-fathom  Preci¬ 
pice,”  where  Kim-bau  showed  us  the  special  pine-tree  to  which, 
as  conscientious  sight-seers,  it  was  our  duty  to  cling  and  crane 
over  till  we  could  see  the  pool  beneath,  and  the  rush  of  waters 
and  the  dizzy  height  made  our  brains  spin.  The  waterfall  itself 
is  only  400  feet  in  height,  but  the  stream  tumbles  and  leaps  down 
the  valley  after  it  has  left  the  pool  for  at  least  as  many  hundred 
feet  more,  before  it  becomes  a  quiet,  well-conducted  river.  We 
descended  by  steep  slippery  paths  through  pine- woods  and  groves 
of  bamboo  to  the  foot  of  the  fall,  and  at  a  distance  of  thirty  yards 
from  the  fall  were  drenched  with  the  spray.  From  this  point  the 
scene  was  in  the  highest  degree  sublime  and  impressive;  before 
us  a  smooth  wall  of  precipitous  rock,  from  four  to  fi  ve  hundred 
feet  high,  intersected  by  a  white  line  of  foam,  extended  in  the 
form  of  a  semicircle  on  each  side.  Five  hundred  feet  below  lay 
the  green  valley,  shut  in  by  the  lofty  range  beyond. 

After  returning  to  our  temple,  though  it  was  nearly  dark,  and 
we  had  done  a  good  day’s  work,  we  could  not  resist  visiting  a 
waterfall,  the  murmur  of  which  was  almost  audible  from  our 
quarters.  The  hour  of  our  visit  was  well  timed ;  the  last  faint 
tints  of  daylight  were  fading  away  on  the  distant  mountains ;  the 
only  sound  which  broke  the  absolute  stillness  of  the  repose  in 
which  all  nature  was  hushed  was  the  continuous  plash  of  the  wa¬ 
ter,  as  it  issued  from  the  deep  shadows  of  a  dense  mass  of  over¬ 
hanging  foliage  at  the  head  of  the  gorge,  in  a  long  white  sheet 
of  foam,  like  a  ghost  in  the  gloaming.  Crossing  a  slab  of  granite 
which  bridged  the  stream  below  the  fall,  we  ascended  a  long 
flight  of  steps  skirting  a  precipitous  ledge  overhanging  the  brook, 
and  on  reaching  the  top,  followed  the  winding  path  through  the 
gloomy  recesses  of  the  wood  until  it  debouched  upon  a  small  am¬ 
phitheatre,  hemmed  in  on  all  sides  by  lofty  hills,  which  rose  ab¬ 
ruptly  from  its  circumference ;  here,  buried  in  the  mountains  and 
far  from  the  busy  hum  of  men,  lay  the  sequestered  village  Sewe- 
kang-ha,  u  remote,”  and,  I  should  think,  very  “  unfriended,  melan¬ 
choly,  and  slow”  as  a  place  of  residence,  but  an  excellent  picture 
of  tranquillity  and  picturesque  seclusion.  The  only  evidences  of 
life  were  the  blue  wreaths  which  curled  from  the  thatched  roofs, 


158 


OUR  FELLOW-LODGERS. 


Sewe-kang-ha  Waterfall. 

and  rested  in  a  light  cloud  oyer  tlie  hamlet,  as  though  it  had  put 
on  a  night-cap  of  smoke  preparatory  to  “  turning  in.”  The  hour 
was  sufficiently  late,  at  all  events,  to  induce  us  to  take  the  hint, 
so  we  scrambled  by  another  path  to  the  temple,  where  we  found 
the  kitchen  crowded  with  pilgrims,  who  were  going  to  spend  the 
night  here,  and  who  were  collected,  as  in  a  club  dining-room,  in 
groups  round  small  square  tables,  vigorously  plying  chopsticks. 
The  good  fare  they  were  enjoying  made  them  quarrelsome.  We 
heard  the  noise  of  their  contending  voices  until  long  after  we  had 
retired  to  rest — indeed,  until  they  were  exchanged  for  snores. 
The  whole  establishment  was  full  of  lodgers ;  and  overhead,  in 
close  proximity  on  either  side  of  us,  worshipers  were  slumbering. 

Some  disinterested  American  had  been  charitable  enough  to 
leave  a  stove  in  the  temple  for  the  benefit  of  future  travelers,  and 
it  was  grateful,  when  we  rose  in  the  morning,  to  warm 'our  hands 
and  drink  our  coffee  by  it  previous  to  starting  on  farther  explo¬ 
rations.  First,  however,  we  were  called  upon  to  settle  sundry 
disputes  between  our  coolies  and  certain  devotees,  who  thought 
themselves  entitled  to  a  preference  in  the  choice  of  food,  accom¬ 
modation,  etc. ;  nor  did  our  good  friends  the  priests  venture  to 
interfere  at  the  risk  of  offending  their  customers.  The  civility 
of  these  gentry  to  us  was  as  unlimited  as  their  curiosity ;  they 


DEPARTURE  FROM  THE  SNOWY  VALLEY. 


159 


perpetually  plied  us  with  tea  and  fingered  our  garments.  I  have 
generally  found  gloves  and  corduroy  trowsers  to  be  the  most 
striking  objects  of  dress  to  the  uncivilized  mind;  shooting-boots 
are  also  curiosities.  Our  entertainers,  however,  were  becoming 
accustomed  to  Europeans,  and  had  evidently  smoked  a  few  cigars 
in  their  lives  before ;  but  they  were  particularly  amused  by  my 
Madras  servant,  apparently  a  specimen  of  humanity  heretofore 
unknown  to  them ;  they  took  him  to  look  at  the  hideous  black 
deities  which  guarded  the  entrance  of  the  temple,  a  compliment 
to  his  personal  appearance  at  which  they  chuckled  hugely,  but 
which  he  did  not  seem  to  appreciate. 

An  hour’s  walk  over  hill-sides  cultivated  with  tea,  and  through 
pine  woods,  brought  us  to  a  pretty  valley,  divided  by  a  stream 
fringed  with  wood,  and  spanned  by  a  bridge  of  a  single  arch,  con¬ 
cealed  by  creepers,  their  long  twisted  tendrils,  like  ladies’  tresses, 
playing  on  the  water.  On  the  bank  was  the  temple  Lung-yin-tau, 
dedicated  to  the  dragon  god.  After  inspecting  this  grim  divinity, 
we  visited  the  romantic  waterfall  which  bears  the  same  name, 
where  the  stream  after  peacefully  traversing  the  valley,  plunges 
over  a  ledge  of  rock  120  feet  high,  into  a  cleft  so  narrow  and 
precipitous  that  it  is  impossible  to  look  into  its  full  depth  from 
above.  It  derives  its  name  probably  from  the  resemblance  which 
the  deep  gorge,  split  into  two  sombre  chasms,  is  supposed  to  bear 
to  the  jaws  of  a  dragon.  Although  the  waterfall  is  not  so  high  as 
some  of  the  others  in  the  neighbprhood,  I  thought  this  the  most 
striking  and  characteristic  in  these  mountains.  From  thence  we 
proceeded  to  the  Leshak-yong,  a  druidical-looking  stone  of  great 
antiquity,  but  unknown  origin,  placed  upon  a  projecting  point 
which  commands  a  panoramic  view  more  beautiful  and  extensive 
than  even  the  Maou-kao-tae.  Immediately  facing  us,  at  the  head 
of  the  valley,  we  had  a  splendid  view  of  a  waterfall,  upward  of 
200  feet  high,  which  falls  in  one  perpendicular  sheet  to  the  bot¬ 
tom,  the  water  dropping  in  curious  snake-like  jets,  without  ever 
touching  the  smooth  surface  of  the  rock,  into  the  pool  beneath. 
Our  elevation  above  the  sea  at  this  point  did  not  probably  exceed 
2000  feet. 

We  now  returned  to  the  temple,  and,  after  a  hearty  meal,  took 
an  affectionate  farewell  of  our  holy  hosts.  We  regretted  that  our 
time  was  so  limited  that  we  were  unable  to  linger  longer  in  the 
Snowy  Valley,  and  explore  more  thoroughly  its  scenic  attractions. 


160 


MOUNTAIN  MEN. 


In  any  country  they  would  be  worthy  of  a  visit,  but  in  China  es¬ 
pecially,  where  the  limited  excursions  of  foreigners  have  disclosed 
so  little  of  the  picturesque,  no  traveler  should  visit  Ningpo  with¬ 
out  taking  a  trip  to  the  mountains;  unless,  indeed,  the  scenery 
they  contain  is  eclipsed  by  wonders  yet  to.be  discovered  by  those 
who  will  explore  the  whole  empire  under  conditions  heretofore 
impossible.  We  had  been  fortunate  in  the  time  of  year  for  our 
expedition;  and  though,  while  we  were  there,  the  Snowy  Valley 
did  not  justify  its  name  so  far  as  the  snow  was  concerned,  in  the 
early  morning  the  water  in  the  paddy-fields  was  coated  with  ice ; 
and  I  observed  a  few  days  after  at  Hingpo  that  what  fell  as  rain 
below  had  covered  the  mountains  we  had  left  with  a  snowy 
mantle. 

The  peasantry  of  this  district,  in  spite  of  their  nationality,  pos¬ 
sessed  the  tout  ensemble  of  mpuntaineers  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 
Whether  in  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  of  Circassia,  of  the  Tyrol, 
of  the  Himalayas,  or  of  China,  there  is  an  indescribable  air  which 
I  have  observed  distinguishes  them  all,  while  it  in  no  way  inter¬ 
feres  with  their  national  characteristics.  Hot-tempered,  good-hu¬ 
mored,  huge-calved,  independent,  hardy,  and  self-reliant — accus¬ 
tomed  to  solitude,  but  disposed  to  conviviality,  I  have  always 
found  hill-men  the  pleasantest  companions,  while  the  bracing 
mountain  air  and  constant  variety  of  scene  exercises  a  correspond¬ 
ing  influence  upon  one’s  own  spirits.  As  we  descended  the  hill, 
we  passed  long  files  of  these  sturdy  mountain  men,  each  stagger¬ 
ing  under  a  young  pine-tree,  and  bearing  his  apparently  superhu¬ 
man  load  down  to  market,  with  a  broad  grin  on  his  jocund  coun¬ 
tenance. 

We  determined  to  vary  our  mode  of  conveyance  on  our  return 
journey,  and  on  reaching  the  Kiver  Tsze-ke  at  the  foot  of  the  hill, 
instead  of  plodding  wearily  to  our  boats  over  miles  of  level  plain, 
to  perform  a  voyage  in  a  bamboo  raft,  the  river  being  too  swift 
and  shallow  for  any  other  description  of  craft.  It  was,  indeed, 
little  better  than  a  trout  stream.  The  population  of  a  large  vil¬ 
lage  on  the  river  bank,  where  we  engaged  the  raft,  turned  out  to 
witness  our  start,  and,  while  the  preparations  were  being  made, 
we  inspected  a  curious  mill  worked  by  water-power,  by  which  a 
number  of  hammers  or  pounders  were  caused  to  fall  with  regu¬ 
lar  stroke  into  receptacles  for  grain  formed  like  mortars.  Our 
raft  was  composed  of  only  ten  bamboos,  on  a  level  with  the  wa- 


loaded  with  wood  or  charcoal,  now  grating  over  the  pebbly  bed 
of  the  stream,  now  whirled  rapidly  oyer  a  bubbling  seething  rapid, 
and  then  being  brought  sharp  up  by  an  eddy  in  some  deep  green 
pool,  where  the  raftsman’s  pole  could  find  no  bottom,  and  salmon 
would  have  loved  to  lie.  We  were  objects  of  great  interest  to 
other  raftsmen,  who  ventured  on  jokes  at  our  expense  ;  so  we  re¬ 
taliated  by  racing  them,  hoisted  umbrellas  to  favoring  gales,  and 
hooked  ourselves  past  our  neighbors  by  holding  on  to  them  or 
poling  against  them,  to  the  great  merriment  of  the  river  popula¬ 
tion.  The  extreme  bitterness  of  the  wind,  and  the  close  of  day, 

L 


A  VOYAGE  ON  BAMBOO  RAFTS.  IQl 

ter,  which  flowed  freely  through  the  interstices,  so  that  we  were 
obliged  to  lay  some  planks  upon  them  to  keep  us  dry.  Still 
movement  was  impossible  except  at  the  price  of  being  ankle-deep 
in  water.  The  ends  of  the  bamboos  were  turned  up,  like  the 
corners  of  houses  and  every  thing  else  in  China.  The  object,  no 
doubt,  was  to  make  a  sort  of  bow,  to  prevent  our  being  flooded. 
Upon  this  fragile  construction  we  intrusted  ourselves  to  the 
guidance  of  one  man,  sending  our  coolies  and  chairs  overland,  and 
dashed  off  in  company  with  a  number  of  other  rafts,  principally 


Our  bamboo  Rafts. 


162 


ARRIVAL  AT  CHUSAN. 


checked  our  energies  at  last,  and  we  were  pretty  well  knocked  up 
by  our  day’s  work  when  we  once  more  reached  our  boat,  and, 
coiling  ourselves  at  the  bottom,  indulged  in  undisturbed  slumber 
until  dawn  once  more  found  us  alongside  the  good  ship  Cormo¬ 
rant,  in  the  river  off  Ningpo. 

I  found  that  Lord  Elgin  had  arrived,  during  my  absence  from 
ISTingpo,  after  a  cruise  up  the  coast,  in  the  course  of  which  he  had 
visited  the  ports  of  Swatow,  Amoy,  and  Foo-chow.  At  the  first 
of  these,  which  is  situated  between  Canton  and  Amoy,  and  is  not 
one  of  those  opened  by  the  treaty  of  1842,  an  illicit  trade  had 
sprung  up,  partly  in  sugar,  which  is  exported  from  this  point  to 
other  ports  on  the  coast  in  foreign  as  well  as  in  Chinese  bottoms, 
partly  in  tea,  which,  from  its  greater  proximity  to  the  tea  districts, 
and  the  recent  troubles  at  Canton,  had  found  this  outlet  to  the 
foreign  market,  and  partly, in  bean-cake,  which  is  brought  down 
in  large  quantities  from  Shanghai  as  an  article  of  manure.  Swa¬ 
tow  occupies  an  important  position  in  Chinese  commerce ;  extens¬ 
ive  banking  operations  are  carried  on  here;  a  considerable  junk 
trade  radiates  from  it  to  the  islands  of  Formosa  and  Hainan,  and 
different  ports  on  the  coast.  A  good  deal  of  opium  is  annually 
imported  by  our  merchants,  which  is  subjected  to  local  duties. 

On  the  20th  of  March  we  left  Ningpo  in  the  Furious,  on  our 
way  to  Chusan,  and,  running  over  in  six  hours,  dropped  anchor 
in  the  beautiful  land-locked  harbor  of  Tinghae  about  sunset.  On 
the  following  morning  we  landed  to  explore  a  locality  rendered 
so  notorious  during  the  last  war  by  the  prolonged  occupation  of 
our  forces,  and  by  the  terrible  experiences  through  which  they 
passed  in  this  lovely  isle,  and  which  have  given  it  a  reputation 
which  it  has  since  been  admitted  it  so  little  merited  that  we  have 
never  ceased  to  regret  its  ultimate  abandonment.  We  no  sooner 
stepped  on  shore  than  we  obtained  evidences  of  those  associations 
connected  with  our  occupation,  which  still  linger  among  the  in¬ 
habitants.  Juvenile  beggars  crowded  round  us,  beseeching  cash 
from  “mantalee,”  which  was  the  nearest  approach  they  could 
make  to  the  honorable  British  title  of  “  mandarin.”  The  fort 
crowns  an  eminence  overlooking  the  bay,  and  beneath,  along  the 
sea-shore,  extends  a  long  straggling  suburb,  which  is  connected 
with  the  town  of  Tinghae,  situated  about  a  mile  and  a  half  inland, 
by  a  paved  causeway.  It  is  a  mean,  dirty  place,  with  inferior 
shops,  surrounded  by  a  wall,  and  containing  at  most  50,000  in- 


A  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  MISSION. 


163 


habitants.  Passing  through  it,  we  entered  the  pleasant  valley  be¬ 
yond  ;  and  observing  a  building  in  a  wood  surmounted  by  a  cross, 
we  decided  that  it  was  a  Roman  Catholic  mission,  and  bent  our 
steps  thither  accordingly. 

A  priest  dressed  in  Chinese  costume  met  us  as  we  approached, 
and  did  the  honors  of  the  establishment  with  great  simplicity  and 
cordiality.  He  was  the  only  European  on  the  island,  a  Lazarist 
of  the  order  of  St.  Vincent,  and  gave  us  some  interesting  details 
of  his  labors  in  Kiangsi,  where  he  had  resided  for  ten  years.  We 
inspected  his  industrial  farm,  cultivated  by  the  boys  of  the  school, 
a  clean,  chubby-looking  set  of  little  fellows,  with  happy,  smiling 
countenances,  very  different  in  expression  from  that  of  Chinese 
youth  generally.  They  evidently  regarded  their  spiritual  master 
with  feelings  of  affection  and  gratitude.  Many  of  them  were  waifs 
and  strays  whom  he  had  picked  out  of  byways  and  hedges,  de¬ 
serted  by  their  parents  on  account  of  some  physical  infirmity. 
One  was  blind,  another  lame,  another’s  arm  and  tongue  were  par¬ 
alyzed.  Generally,  however,  his  pupils  were  the  children  of  con¬ 
verts  ;  the  Roman  Catholic  system  being  rather  to  breed  converts 
than  to  make  them,  an  operation  which  is  becoming  daily  more 
simple,  as  there  are  upward  of  half  a  million  Roman  Catholic 
Christians  in  the  empire.  Out  of  the  entire  population  of  Chu- 
san,  estimated  at  200,000,  the  priest  calculated  that  about  250  fam¬ 
ilies  were  converts.  Neither  he  nor  his  flock  were  in  any  way 
annoyed  by  the  people,  although  jealously  regarded  by  the  au¬ 
thorities  and  literati.  Still,  no  active  hostility  was  exercised  to¬ 
ward  them ;  and,  beyond  being  occasionally  called  upon  to  sub¬ 
scribe  to  pagodas,  or  take  part  in  Buddhist  ceremonies,  they  prac¬ 
ticed  their  faith  unmolested. 

We  afterward  visited,  with  our  reverend  guide,  a  girl’s  hospital 
in  the  town,  which  did  equal  credit  to  his  management  with  the 
rest  of  his  establishment.  He  insisted  upon  acting  as  our  cicerone 
over  the  island,  and  took  us  first  to  see  the  country  residence  of  a 
rich  Chinese  proprietor.  It  was  a  good  specimen  of  the  orna¬ 
mental  taste  of  the  country.  Here  were  the  usual  summer-houses 
buried  in  rock-work,  and  approached  by  labyrinths  tunneled 
through  grottoes,  or  staircases  winding  through  miniature  mount¬ 
ains,  and  pavilions  perched  on  islands  in  diminutive  seas,  connect¬ 
ed  with  the  main  land  by  fragile  bridges.  Charming  little  baskets 
with  mossy  seats  invited  to  repose  in  their  cool  shade,  and  gor- 


164  POLITICAL  ADVANTAGES  OF  CHUSAN.— BRITISH  GRAVE-YARD. 

geous  camellias  and  magnolias  in  fall  bloom  flung  a  rich  coloring 
of  glowing  tints  over  all. 

After  refreshing  ourselves  with  numerous  cups  of  tea  of  Chusan 
growth,  which  tasted  a  good  deal  like  an  infusion  of  straw,  and 
the  leaves  of  which  looked  as  green  as  if  they  had  been  picked  off 
the  bushes  the  day  before,  we  started  off  to  the  top  of  one  of  the 
highest  hills  in  the  neighborhood,  so  as  to  obtain  as  extensive  a 
view  as  possible  over  the  island  before  nightfall.  From  this  el¬ 
evated  spot,  at  an  elevation  of  1200  or  1500  feet  above  the  sea,  we 
looked  over  fertile  valleys  teeming  with  life  and  rich  in  cultiva¬ 
tion  ;  and,  throwing  ourselves  on  the  grass  after  our  scramble,  in¬ 
dulged  in  vain  regrets,  as  our  eyes  wandered  over  the  loveliness 
at  our  feet,  at  the  infatuation  which  ever  induced  us  to  relinquish 
a  spot  not  only  so  highly  favored  by  nature  in  point  of  fertility 
and  scenery,  but  possessing  one  of  the  finest  harbors  on  the  coast 
of  China,  a  commercial  position  at  the  outlet  of  the  Yang-tse- 
Kiang  totally  unrivaled,  and  political  advantages  of  capabilities 
and  situation  such  as  no  other  spot  upon  the  coast  of  China  can 
boast. 

The  island  is  fifty-one  miles  in  circumference.  Fortunately,  we 
had  but  little  breath  to  expend  in  sighs;  but,  to  judge  from  the 
headlong  course  we  took  to  reach  the  bottom  at  the  peril  of  our 
necks,  the  holy  man  who  accompanied  us  must  have  suspected 
that  despair  was  the  cause  of  our  recklessness ;  for  on  our  arriving 
at  the  bottom,  with  impeded  utterance  and  many  compliments  on 
Lord  Elgin’s  activity,  he  went  on  to  assure  us  that  the  population 
of  Chusan  preserved  most  flattering  and  agreeable  reminiscences 
of  British  rule,  and  would  receive  us  with  open  arms  whenever  we 
thought  proper  to  resume  possession  ;  and  then,  to  calm  us,  he  led 
the  way  to  a  secluded  nook  in  a  deep  valley,  where  a  picturesque 
pagoda  lay  embowered  in  a  dense  grove  of  bamboo,  impenetrable 
to  noonday  heats ;  and  here  we  remained  and  drank  more  tea,  sup¬ 
plied  us  by  bonzes,  till  it  was  time  to  return  on  board,  whither 
our  kind  guide  accompanied  us,  and  inspected  for  the  first  time  in 
his  life  a  few  of  the  wonders  of  a  British  man-of-war. 

Captain  Osborn  had  sent  on  shore  a  party  of  men  to  examine 
the  condition  of  the  graves  of  those  of  our  countrymen  who  lie 
buried  in  Chusan,  and  the  following  morning  I  went  to  see  these 
melancholy  records  of  this  painful  episode  of  the  last  war.  A 
few  hours  had  sufficed  to  clear  away  the  rubbish  which  had  been 


TIIE  SACKED  ISLAND  OF  POOTOO. 


165 


allowed  to  accumulate  round  them;  the  tomb-stones  themselves 
were  in  good  preservation,  and  the  men  were  repainting  those 
which  had  become  partially  effaced. 

At  midday  we  weighed  from  Tinghae,  and,  favored  by  lovely 
weather,  passed  through  the  intricate  windings  of  the  Chusan 
archipelago,  past  swelling  islands  indented  with  deep  bays  run¬ 
ning  back  to  rich  fertile  valleys  terraced  with  cultivation,  and 
through  a  narrow  channel  between  beetling  cliffs  of  gray  weath¬ 
er-worn  granite,  where  the  sea  surged  into  dark  caverns,  and  mur¬ 
mured  sullenly  in  deep  fissures  in  the  rocks.  The  scenery  and 
climate  reminded  me  of  a  former  yachting  experience  among  the 
sunny  Grecian  isles. 

At  sunset  we  dropped  anchor  in  “  the  Sea  of  the  Water-lilies,’ ' 
off  the  sacred  island  of  Pootoo.  We  devoted  a  day  to  the  exam¬ 
ination  of  its  holy  mysteries.  A  broad  paved  causeway  led  us 
over  the  low  shoulder  of  a  hill  into  a  lovely  valley,  where  a  pile 
of  gray  pagodas  and  temples,  with  upturned  roofs  of  imperial  yel¬ 
low  and  walls  of  vermilion,  were  embosomed  in  foliage  of  the 
brightest  green,  and  huge  impending  masses  of  rugged  granite  lay 


The  Temple  of  Kwang-yin,  Pootoo. 


scattered  upon  the  steep  hill-side  above  as  though  they  had  been 
glued  upon  it  by  some  giant  hand.  A  quaint  gateway,  covered 


166 


A  DEGRADED  PRIESTHOOD. 


with  inscriptions,  opened  upon  a  maze  of  court-yards  and  a  collec¬ 
tion  of  sacred  buildings,  some  especially  erected  to  protect  slabs 
of  extreme  antiquity  inscribed  with  holy  sentiments,  others  con¬ 
taining  enormous  bells,  struck  with  a  hammer  swinging  beside 
them  instead  of  a  clapper ;  others,  and  these  were  the  largest  and 
most  numerous,  filled  with  monster  images  of  both  sexes  and  all 
sizes,  from  the  giant  figure  of  Kwang-yin,  the  goddess  of  mercy, 
to  whom  the  whole  was  dedicated,  to  a  row  of  little  gods  three 
inches  high.  In  the  court-yards  were  sacred  bronzes  containing 
sacred  fire,  and  overshadowed  by  sacred  trees ;  and  there  was  a 
sacred  pond,  full  of  sacred  fishes,  covered  with  the  sacred  lotus, 
and  spanned  by  a  single-arched  bridge. 

Every  where  groups  of  filthy  bonzes  were  collected,  basking 
half-naked  in  the  sun,  and  inspecting  their  own  tattered  habili¬ 
ments  or  those  of  their  neighbors,  chanting  monotonous  prayers, 
or  wandering  about  telling  their  beads,  crowding  round  me  while 
I  was  sketching  them,  and  staring  vacantly  through  their  blear 
eyes  upon  the  strangers.  Clad  in  ragged  robes  of  gray  serge, 
they  infested  the  place  like  a  description  of  vermin  peculiar  to  it, 
wearing  these  ashy-colored  vestments  till  they  dropped  off,  appar- 


Bonze  at  Pootoa 


THE  HIGH-PRIEST.— PICTURESQUE  TEMPLES. 


167 


ently  ignorant  of  one  nse  of  water.  Generally  covered  with  cu¬ 
taneous  eruptions,  they  were,  in  all  cases,  pervaded  by  an  atmos¬ 
phere  which  rendered  their  proximity  in  the  highest  degree  of¬ 
fensive.  When  we  were  entertained  by  the  chief  priest  of  the 
island  on  tea  and  preserves  in  a  room  of  limited  dimensions, 
crowded  with  these  holy  men,  the  odor  of  their  sanctity  became 
altogether  unbearable.  Our  host  himself  was,  however,  an  excep¬ 
tion  ;  he  was  a  man  cleanly  in  his  appearance,  of  a  mild  and  intel¬ 
ligent  countenance,  and  robed  in  a  stole  of  yellow.  He  told  us 
that  he  was  the  spiritual  superior  of  five  hundred  priests  then  on 
the  island ;  that  it  was  devoted  entirely  to  religious  purposes,  no 
layman  being  allowed  to  reside  upon  it,  but  that  a  few  nuns  were 
numbered  in  the  population.  I  should  have  been  inclined  to 
suppose  that  our  authority  considerably  understated  the  number 
at  five  hundred,  and,  from  the  quantity  of  bonzes  we  saw,  Mr. 
Williams’  estimate  of  two  thousand  appeared  more  likely  to  be 
correct.  That  gentleman  calculates  the  number  of  temples, 
shrines,  and  monasteries  which  are  collected  upon  this  little  island 
at  sixty.  We  were  contented  with  rambling  over  the  island,  and 
entering  five  or  six. 

They  all  partook,  more  or  less,  of  the  same  character,  but  varied 
in  picturesqueness  of  situation :  one  perched  upon  a  cliff,  some 
200  feet  above  the  waves  that  broke  at  its  base,  contained  shrines 
hewn  out  of  the  living  rock,  approached  by  narrow  stairs  which 
were  tunneled  through  it ;  another  was  a  massive  pile  of  buildings 
built  upon  the  hill-side,  its  spacious  paved  courts  inclosed  by 
carved  balustrades,  and  reached  by  a  series  of  broad  flights  of 
steps.  In  one  temple,  buried  in  a  grove  of  camellia-trees,  we  sur¬ 
prised  the  whole  priesthood  in  the  refectory,  sitting  at  long  nar¬ 
row  tables,  and  shoveling  rice  into  their  capacious  mouths  with 
chopsticks.  In  another,  a  respectable-looking  young  man,  who 
had  made  a  pilgrimage  of  gratitude  to  the  shrine  of  his  choice, 
was  having  a  private  service  for  his  special  benefit,  and  was  pros¬ 
trating  himself  vehemently  to  the  clashing  of  cymbals,  the  tooting 
of  fifes,  and  the  booming  of  tom-toms,  while  a  venerable  bonze 
chanted  the  thanks  of  the  devotee  to  a  wild-visaged  deity  with  a 
protuberant  gilt  stomach.  Every  where  the  heavy  perfume  of 
incense  mingled  with  the  fouler  odors  of  priests,  and  every  where 
ponderous  curtains  and  embroidered  drapery  concealed  the  same 
collection  of  burning  joss-sticks  and  deformed  divinities.  Some 


168 


PILGRIMS. 


of  the  temples  were  in  a  state  of  great  decay,  others  were  being 
repaired  out  of  alms  and  subscriptions  supplied  by  pious  worship¬ 
ers  ;  for  it  is  only  fair  to  the  holy  men  to  say  that  if  they  neglect 
their  own  persons  they  are  devoted  in  their  attentions  to  the 
objects  of  their  culte.  It  is  said,  however,  that  many  of  the  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  fraternity  of  Pootoo  are  criminals,  who  have  sought 
refuge  in  this  asylum,  and  atone  for  their  past  lives  by  a  life  of 
idleness  and  filth,  superstition  and  celibacy. 


Bonze  Praying. 


It  was  a  relief  to  turn  our  backs  upon  these  scenes,  and,  ascend¬ 
ing  to  the  highest  point  in  the  island,  enjoy  a  sublimer  worship 
in  the  grand  temple  of  nature.  On  our  way  up  the  long  flight  of 
steps  by  which  we  reached  a  point  1200  feet  above  the  sea-level, 
we  passed  numerous  shrines  where  priests  begged  and  pilgrims 
rested.  In  niches  cut  out  of  the  bank  devoted  men  passed  their 
days  in  solitude,  perpetually  repeating  the  formula  to  which  the 
whole  island  rings.  Every  building  is  covered  with  this  one  in¬ 
scription,  and  every  shaven  inhabitant  passes  the  greater  part  of 
each  day  in  mumbling  incessantly  the  pious  invocation.  All 
other  ideas  seemed  merged  into  this  one,  which  is  embodied  in  a 
continuous  sing-song  chant  of  “  Ometo  Fuh,  Ometo  Buddhu.” 
Men  sit  tapping  little  wooden  bells,  saying  Ometo  Fuh  through- 


MAGNIFICENT  VIEW. 


169 


out  tlie  livelong  day ;  and  their  particular  haunt  seemed  to  be  the 
steps  up  the  mountain.  At  last  we  passed  them  all,  and  standing 
on  its  highest  peak,  looked  over  the  island-studded  sea,  with  plac¬ 
id  bays  inclosed  between  long  rocky  promontories,  and  hamlets 
nestling  in  the  woods  on  distant  islands,  and  broad  acres  of  culti¬ 
vation  extending  far  up  the  hill-sides,  while  our  own  little  isle 
was  carpeted  with  fields  of  flowering  rape  of  the  brightest  yellow, 
dotted  with  groves  and  temples,  intersected  with  broad  stone 
causeways  worn  by  the  incessant  tramp,  for  centuries  past,  of 
priest  and  pilgrim,  and  bearing  marks  of  a  venerable  old  age  in 
its  ruined  shrines,  gnarled  old  trees,  hoary  moss-grown  rocks,  and 
equally  hoary  occupants. 

Leaving  Pootoo,  we  crossed  the  muddy  bay  of  Hang-chow  to 
Chapoo,  celebrated  by  a  bloody  but  profitless  victory  during  the 
last  war.  Once  important  as  one  of  the  termini  of  the  grand 
canal  (before  that  work  was  destroyed),  it  still  retains  some  little 
mercantile  position  as  the  port  of  the  populous  and  wealthy  city 
of  Hang-chow,  and  the  only  port  on  the  coast  open  to  trade  from 
Japan.  Four  junks  from  those  islands  were  now  lying  here.  It 
is,  however,  worthless  to  us  as  a  new  port,  partly  because  the  har¬ 
bor  is  exposed  and  shallow,  and  partly  because  Chapoo  is  con¬ 
nected  with  Shanghai  by  a  canal,  from  which  it  is  only  about 
sixty  miles  distant.  A  low  irregular  range  of  hills  border  the 
alluvial  plain  on  which  the  town  is  situated,  and  on  their  sides 
and  summits  forts  have  been  erected.  We  landed  and  ascended 
one  of  these  overlooking  the  compact  walled  city  and  the  vast 
plain  beyond,  which  extended  in  a  blaze  of  variegated  crops  with¬ 
out  an  eminence  higher  than  a  pagoda,  and  with  a  land  horizon 
stretching  in  one  unbroken  line  for  at  least  forty-five  miles. 


170 


COMMUNICATION  FROM  PEKIN. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Communication  from  the  imperial  Government. — Lord  Elgin’s  Reply. — Sir  John 
Bowring’s  Visit  to  the  Peiho. — Course  pursued  on  that  Occasion. — Lord  Elgin’s 
Application  for  Gun-boats. — The  Roman  Catholic  Mission  of  Siccaway. — System 
of  Education. — Barren  Results  of  Missionary  Labors. — Superstitious  Practices  of 
Converts. — A  “Feast  of  Tabernacles.” — The  Cathedral  of  Tonk-a-doo. — Difficul¬ 
ties  attending  Missionary  Enterprise. — Non-arrival  of  the  Admiral. — Departure 
of  the  Plenipotentiaries  for  the  North. — The  Miatou  Straits. — Aground  on  a 
Sand-bank. — Arrival  in  the  Gulf  of  Pechelee. — Dreary  Weather. — An  Expedi¬ 
tion  across  the  Bar. — Junk-hunting. — Arrival  of  the  American  Minister. — Diffi¬ 
culties  of  the  Situation. — Unnecessary  Delays. — Diplomatic  Difficulties. — Aspect 
of  the  Forts. — Arrival  of  the  Admiral. — The  Dispatch-vessels  cross  the  Bar. — 
Expiry  of  the  Delay. — Postponement  of  Attack. — Political  Consequences  of  the 
Delay. 

The  day  after  our  arrival  at  Shanghai,  Lord  Elgin  received 
from  Pekin  the  reply  of  the  imperial  government  to  the  dis¬ 
patches  which  I  had  delivered  for  transmission  at  Soo-chow  a 
month  before.  Although  by  the  treaty  of  Nankin  the  right  is 
secured  to  her  majesty’s  representative  in  China  to  correspond 
direct  with  the  highest  imperial  authority  in  the  empire,  the  prime 
minister  Yu,  to  whom  the  communications  of  his  excellency  had 
been  addressed,  did  not  condescend  to  respond,  but  instructed  the 
authorities  of  the  Two  Kiangs  to  make  a  communication  to  the 
British  plenipotentiary,  in  which,  after  adverting  to  the  recent 
proceedings  at  Canton,  it  was  stated  that  Yeh  was  in  consequence 
degraded,  and  superseded  by  Hwang,  who  alone  was  authorized 
to  manage  the  barbarian  affairs  at  that  city,  whither  we  were  en¬ 
joined  to  return,  and  at  no  other  place.  The  prime  minister  went 
on  to  state  that,  “there  being  a  particular  sphere  of  duty  allotted 
to  every  official  on  the  establishment  of  the  Celestial  Empire,  and 
the  principle  that  between  them  and  the  foreigner  there  is  no  in¬ 
tercourse  being  one  ever  religiously  adhered  to  by  the  servants 
of  our  government  of  China,  it  would  not  be  proper  for  me  to 
reply  in  person  to  the  letter  of  the  English  minister.  Let  your 
excellency  (the  authorities  of  the  Two  Kiangs)  therefore  transmit 
to  him  all  that  I  have  said  above,  and  his  letter  will  no  way  be 
left  unanswered.” 


LORD  ELGIN’S  REPLY. 


171 


This  letter  was  returned  to  the  authorities  of  the  Two  Kiangs  as 
an  unjustifiable  disregard  of  that  clause  of  the  treaty  of  Nankin 
which  states  “that  it  is  agreed  that  her  Britannic  majesty’s  chief 
high  officer  in  China  shall  correspond  with  the  Chinese  high  of¬ 
ficers  both  in  the  capital  and  in  the  provinces,  under  the  term 
1  communication.’  ” 

Under  these  circumstances,  Lord  Elgin,  after  quoting  the  above 
clause  in  reply,  states  that  it  is  his  intention  to  “proceed  at  once 
to  the  north,  in  order  that  he  may  place  himself  in  more  direct 
communication  with  the  high  officers  of  the  imperial  government 
at  the  capital.”  As  this  was  a  measure  which  the  embassador 
had  always  considered  the  most  likely  to  be  productive  of  suc¬ 
cessful  results,  so  far  as  negotiation  was  concerned,  he  did  not  re¬ 
gret  that  the  unwarrantable  course  taken  by  the  prime  minister 
rendered  the  step  imperative.  The  French,  Kussian,  and  Amer¬ 
ican  ministers  received  communications  more  or  less  to  the  same 
effect,  except  that  Count  Poutiatine  was  directed  to  repair  to  the 
Amour  instead  of  to  Canton ;  and  they  all  agreed  with  Lord  El¬ 
gin  that  the  proper,  and,  indeed,  only  course  to  be  pursued  was 
to  appear  with  as  little  delay  as  possible  with  a  sufficiently  strong 
force  at  the  mouth  of  the  Peiho,  to  enforce  that  compliance  with 
treaty  obligations  which  the  government  so  pertinaciously  re¬ 
fused. 

It  was  interesting,  in  connection  with  the  determination  thus 
arrived  at  by  the  allied  plenipotentiaries,  to  refer  to  the  document 
found  in  Yeh’s  yamun  relating  to  the  visit  of  Sir  John  Bowring, 
and  Mr.  Maclane,  the  United  States  Commissioner,  to  the  Peiho 
in  1854.  They  too  had  endeavored,  but  with  even  less  success, 
to  communicate  with  the  imperial  government  through  the  au¬ 
thorities  of  the  Two  Kiangs.  Sir  J.  Bowring  had  been  refused  an 
audience  altogether,  and  Mr.  Maclane  stopped  at  Kwan-shan,  out¬ 
side  Soo-chow,  as  already  described,  and  there  remonstrated  with 
on  the  impropriety  of  his  proceeding  to  the  north.  At  first  Iliang, 
the  governor  general,  seemed  to  think  these  remonstrances  had 
proved  effectual,  but  he  afterward  had  misgivings  on  the  subject; 
for,  alluding  to  Sir  John  Bowring’s  complaint  against  Yeh  for 
want  of  politeness,  and  the  visit  he  threatens  to  the  Peiho  in  con¬ 
sequence,  he  says :  “It  is,  however,  a  standing  device  of  the  bar¬ 
barians  to  make  particular  circumstances  the  plea  of  demands  to 
be  insisted  on ;  whatever  these  chiefs  may  insinuate  (or  whisper) 


172 


SIR  JOHN  BOWRING’S  VISIT  TO  THE  PEI IIO. 


against  Yeh-Ming-Chin,  it  is  evident  that  Yeh-Ming-Chin  is  he 
whom  they  are  used  to  fear.  They  say  they  are  going  to  Tientsin. 
This  may  be,  notwithstanding,  an  assertion  made  to  compel  ac¬ 
quiescence  in  their  demands.  Your  slave  has  commanded  them, 
with  affectionate  earnestness,  to  stay,  and  the  ships  of  their  chief 
have  not  as  yet  departed.  Still,  there  is  no  certainty,  so  incon¬ 
sistent  and  capricious  is  the  barbarian  character,  that  they  will 
not  after  all  sail  north,  and  thereby  attempt  to  constrain  the  im¬ 
perial  authority,  and  the  high  provincial  authorities  of  the  coast 
jurisdictions.”  To  which  the  emperor  replies  that  it  is  quite  true 
that  “it  is  the  nature  of  barbarians  to  be  cunning  and  malicious;” 
and  he  farther  directs  Iliang  to  inform  them  that  “a  force  is  as¬ 
sembled  at  Tientsin  as  the  clouds  in  number” — all  clearly  show¬ 
ing  how  much  the  presence  of  foreigners  was  dreaded  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  capital,) and  how  effectual,  in  all  probability, 
any  pressure  applied  there  would  be. 

It  was  only  to  be  regretted  that  this  very  expedition,  to  which 
the  above  papers  refer,  had  gone  to  the  north,  and  returned  re  in- 
fecta.  This  circumstance  in  itself  was  calculated  to  diminish  the 
effect  of  another;  and,  indeed,  as  we  afterward  discovered,  the 
same  commissioners  were  sent  to  meet  us  at  Takoo  as  had  met 
the  English  and  American  commissioners  on  the  former  occasion, 
and  no  doubts  seemed  to  have  been  entertained  at  head-quarters 
that  they  were  endowed  with  a  special  faculty  for  dealing  with 
barbarians,  and  that  we  should  be  as  easily  disposed  of  as  our 
predecessors. 

The  decision  in  favor  of  an  early  move  northward  was  arrived 
at  on  the  1st  of  April,  the  non-appearance  of  any  imperial  com¬ 
missioner  before  the  last  day  of  March,  the  period  appointed  for 
the  commencement  of  negotiations  at  Shanghai,  having  released 
the  allied  plenipotentiaries  from  their  engagements  upon  this  head. 
In  view  of  this  contingency,  which  Lord  Elgin  had  before  leaving 
Hong  Kong  anticipated  as  probable,  he  had,  upon  the  2d  of  March, 
addressed  to  the  admiral  a  letter,  stating  that  he  was  about  to  pro¬ 
ceed  to  Shanghai,  in  the  hope  of  meeting  there  a  properly  quali¬ 
fied  plenipotentiary ;  but  his  lordship  went  on  to  say :  “  If  I  should 
be  disappointed  in  this  hope,  it  may  be  necessary,  in  pursuance  of 
the  policy  prescribed  by  her  majesty’s  government,  to  bring  press¬ 
ure  to  bear  at  some  point  near  the  capital.  With  a  view  to  this 
contingency,  I  think  it  desirable  that  your  excellency  should  col- 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC  MISSION  OF  SICCAWAY.  173 

lect  at  Shanghai,  toward  the  end  of  March,  or  as  soon  after  as  may 
be  convenient,  as  large  a  fleet,  more  especially  of  gun-boats  draw¬ 
ing  little  water,  as  you  can  spare  from  service  elsewhere.”* 

In  reply  to  which  communication  the  admiral  states :  u  I  beg  to 
acquaint  your  excellency  that  for  some  time  past  my  attention 
has  been  directed  to  this  object.  One  of  the  gun-boats  and  one 
gun- vessel  have  already  sailed  for  Shanghai,  and  arrangements  are 
in  progress  for  others  to  follow.  It  is  my  intention  to  sail  for 
Shanghai  in  the  ‘Calcutta,’  should  nothing  prevent,  on  or  about 
the  16th  instant.”  As  a  month  had  now  elapsed  since  this  letter 
was  written,  and  every  day  was  of  importance,  we  were  anxiously 
looking  out  for  the  first  installment  of  gun-boats  now  due,  as  well 
as  for  the  admiral  himself,  whose  arrival  was  daily  expected. 

Meantime  the  weather  at  Shanghai  was  favorable  for  excur¬ 
sions,  though  the  neighborhood  presented  few  attractions  of  any 
interest.  One  day  we  took  a  walk  of  twelve  miles  to  visit  the  Ro¬ 
man  Catholic  College  and  missionary  establishment  of  Siccaway. 
The  country  is  such  a  dead  level  that  pedestrian  exercise  soon  be¬ 
comes  wearisome.  We  followed  narrow  paths  between  fields  of 
wheat,  beans,  and  other  cultivation  reeking  with  high-flavored 
manure,  but  bearing,  nevertheless,  thin  crops  and  abundance  of 
weeds.  The  land  in  China,  even  in  the  elaborate  cultivation  of 
their  kitchen-gardens,  is  never  properly  worked.  The  surface 
merely  is  scratched,  and  then  deluged  with  strong  manure.  The 
consequence  is  that,  though  the  young  crops  sometimes  look  green 
and  promising,  they  seldom  bear  heavily. 

The  mission  buildings  are  pleasantly  situated  on  the  banks  of 
a  small  canal.  We  were  received  at  the  door  by  some  priests, 
dressed,  as  usual,  in  Chinese  costume,  who  conducted  us  over  the 
establishment.  We  found  the  school-rooms  full  of  noisy  students, 
all  swaying  their  bodies  to  and  fro  over  their  desks,  and  reciting 
their  lessons  to  themselves  in  a  loud  monotonous  chant,  each  ap¬ 
parently  profoundly  indifferent  to  the  sharp  tones  which  were 
ringing  in  his  ears  from  his  neighbor  on  either  side.  There 
were  altogether  eighty  young  men  and  boys  in  the  several  school¬ 
rooms,  deep  in  the  study  of  the  classics  and  polite  learning  of  the 
Chinese,  for  the  system  of  the  Roman  Catholics  consists  not  so 
much  in  imbuing  the  students  with  the  dogmas  of  their  own  faith 
as  in  educating  them  to  such  a  point  in  the  literature  of  their 

*  Blue-Book,  p.  223. 


174 


SYSTEM  OF  EDUCATION. 


country  as  'shall  enable  them  to  compete  successfully  with  their 
fellows  for  the  highest  honors  of  the  empire  at  the  competitive  ex¬ 
aminations.  By  these  means,  if  they  do  not  gain  converts,  they  se¬ 
cure  to  themselves  protection  in  high  places,  and  ever  after  have 
friends  of  the  mammon  of  unrighteousness  upon  whom  they  can 
rely;  for  the  tie  formed  between  the  student  and  his  teacher  at 
these  establishments  is  not  easily  broken,  and  the  kindness  and 
toleration  with  which  he  has  been  treated  by  the  Roman  Catho¬ 
lics  leaves,  even  in  the  mind  of  the  stern  Confucian,  a  strong  im¬ 
pression  in  favor  of  that  class  to  whom  he  owes  his  present  great¬ 
ness,  and  who,  whatever  their  tenets,  have,  at  all  events  in  his  own 
case,  practiced  some  of  the  noblest  maxims  of  the  great  philoso¬ 
pher.  I  was  informed  that  the  Roman  Catholic  missions  could 
boast  of  converts  even  among  the  mandarins ;  while  numerous  in¬ 
stances  of  devotion  and  acts/  of  private  charity  to  the  missionaries 
and  their  converts  were  related,  both  on  the  part  of  those  Chinese 
who  were  members  of  the  Church,  and  of  those  who  had  merely 
benefited  from  its  institutions. 

Notwithstanding,  however,  the  system  upon  which  Roman 
Catholic  missionary  enterprise  is  based  in  China,  of  conforming  as 
much  as  possible  to  existing  prejudices,  and  conciliating  to  the  ut¬ 
termost  where  it  can  not  convince,  I  do  not  think  that,  even  un¬ 
der  the  new  treaty,  or  the  most  favorable  conditions  which  can 
possibly  be  devised,  its  influence  will  ever  be  felt  upon  the  gov¬ 
erning  classes.  With  the  masses  in  almost  all  countries  where  it 
has  been  introduced  at  all,  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  has  been 
popular;  but  the  emissaries  of  that  plagiarist  on  their  own  phi¬ 
losopher,  Mons.  Auguste  Comte,  would  have  a  greater  chance  of 
success  among  the  literati  of  China  than  those  of  the  Pope.  I  was 
informed  by  a  high  clerical  Protestant  authority  that,  out  of  the 
mass  of  Protestant  converts  hitherto  made,  there  were  only  five 
whom  he  really  believed  to  be  sincere ;  and  there  is  no  reason  to 
suppose  that  the  proportion  should  be  greater  among  the  more  in¬ 
telligent  of  the  Roman  Catholics. 

Among  the  ignorant  and  superstitious,  doubtless  many  may 
possess  a  sort  of  mongrel  belief ;  but  their  faith  can  not  be  worth 
much  when  it  is  obtained  by  conceding  to  them  the  permission 
to  observe  their  own  festivals,  to  worship  at  the  graves  of  their 
ancestors,  and  go  through  all  their  own  ceremonies  of  mourning, 
with  the  exception  of  burning  joss-paper.  At  Chusan,  indeed, 


THE  CATHEDRAL  OF  TONK-A-DOO. 


175 


our  reverend  friend  told  us  that  the  converts  often  refused  to 
take  part  in  these  ceremonies ;  but  the  fact  that  they  should  be 
permitted  to  do  so,  and  still  retain  their  Christian  name  and  pro¬ 
fession,  is  significant.  The  point  is  one  which  has  caused  a  seri¬ 
ous  dissension  between  the  Dominicans  and  Jesuits,  the  latter  be¬ 
ing  in  favor  of  the  greatest  latitude  being  given  to  the  religious 
practices  of  the  converts.  The  mission  at  Siccaway  was  almost 
entirely  conducted  by  Jesuits.  The  best  possible  understanding 
evidently  subsisted  between  them  and  their  pupils,  whose  coun¬ 
tenances  all  bore  evidence  of  happiness  and  contentment.  Not¬ 
withstanding  the  fact  that  twelve  hours  out  of  the  twenty-four 
were  devoted  to  work  or  religious  exercises,  the  establishment 
was  kept  scrupulously  clean;  the  dormitories  were  models  of 
neatness;  so  that  habits  foreign  to  the  Chinese  domestic  charac¬ 
ter  were  being  instilled  into  the  inmates.  Some  specimens  of 
modeling  in  clay,  by  one  of  the  elder  students,  gave  promise  of 
considerable  talent  as  an  artist. 

The  day  of  our  visit  to  Siccaway  happened  to  be  a  holiday  in 
honor  of  the  approach  of  spring — a  Chinese  “Feast  of  Taberna¬ 
cles,”  and  we  met  crowds  in  gala  dresses,  returning  from  the  cer¬ 
emonies  which  they  had  attended  to  propitiate  the  Ceres  of  the 
Celestial  Empire.  Numbers  of  bonzes  in  long  gray  robes  were 
accompanied  by  soldiers  in  tall  conical  head-dresses,  like  red  fool’s- 
caps  ;  and  at  one  of  the  temples  which  we  entered  gongs  were  beat¬ 
ing  and  worshipers  prostrating  themselves  incessantly :  perhaps 
some  of  them  formed  part  of  the  crowd  we  saw  no  less  reverently 
adoring  the  Virgin  Mary  on  the  following  Sunday  at  the  Cathe¬ 
dral  at  Tonk-a-doo.  Here  one  side  of  the  spacious  area  was  filled 
by  a  large  attendance  of  Chinese  female  converts,  whose  devout 
demeanor  testified  to  their  sincerity,  and  whose  neat  and  occasion¬ 
ally  handsome  costume  and  pleasing  countenances  formed  an 
agreeable  contrast  to  the  majority  of  the  fair  sex  the  stranger 
meets  in  a  Chinese  town,  and  of  which,  if  he  has  no  opportunity 
of  seeing  the  better  classes,  he  will  probably  form  an  unfavorable 
opinion. 

The  Cathedral  is  adorned  with  sacred  pictures  drawn  in  con¬ 
formity  with  Chinese  notions,  though  the  shaven  crowns  and 
tails  of  the  apostles,  and  small  feet  of  the  women,  are  startling  to 
an  Occidental  eye ;  but  the  principal  curiosity  of  the  Cathedral  is 
the  organ,  which  has  been  constructed  by  Chinese  mechanics,  and 


176  difficulties  attending  missionary  enterprise. 


the  pipes  of  which  are  composed  simply  of  the  hollow  bamboo 
of  different  sizes.  The  tones  which  it  emitted,  though  powerful, 
were  soft  and  melodious,  except  in  some  of  the  higher  notes. 
There  is  a  college  attached  to  the  Cathedral.  The  students  here 
are  all  converts,  and  many  of  them  were  undergoing  a  course  of 
preparation  as  native  missionaries  and  catechists. 

The  efforts  of  the  Protestant  missionaries  at  Shanghai  are  de¬ 
voted  rather  to  the  education  of  youth  than  the  conversion  of 
adults.  Ningpo  is  regarded  as  the  station  at  which  their  labors 
in  this  latter  respect  have  been  most  satisfactory.  At  Shanghai, 
about  400  children  are  under  Protestant  instruction,  but  they  are 
not,  for  the  most  part,  taught  English,  and  only  the  most  rudi¬ 
mentary  works  in  their  own  classics.  Their  education  seems 
likely,  therefore,  to  be  of  little  service  to  them,  either  among 
their  own  countrymen  or  foreigners.  It  has  been  found  at  Idong 
Kong  that  a  knowledge  of  English  exposes  youths  to  temptations, 
against  which  not  even  the  principles  they  have,  or  ought  to  have 
imbibed,  can  protect  them ;  and  in  too  many  instances  the  knowl¬ 
edge  they  have  acquired  only  serves  to  increase  their  evil  influ¬ 
ence.  In  the  American  schools  at  Shanghai,  however,  English  is 
taught ;  some  of  the  girls  in  the  schools  of  these  latter  missions, 
more  especially,  had  attained  a  very  extensive  and  sound  knowl¬ 
edge  of  the  language ;  and,  so  far  as  one  could  judge  from  their 
appearance,  the  most  favorable  results  might  be  augured  from  the 
training  they  had  undergone. 

There  is  probably  no  country  in  which  missionary  enterprise 
is  conducted  under  greater  difficulties  than  in  China,  our  isolated 
position,  on  the  rim,  as  it  were,  of  the  empire,  rendering  it  diffi¬ 
cult  for  the  missionaries  to  come  into  such  close  contact  with  the 
people  as  will  enable  them  to  acquire  any  lasting  influence.  A 
period  of  from  two  to  three  years  after  his  arrival  in  the  country 
is  employed  by  the  missionary  in  learning  the  language,  which 
confines  him  to  the  particular  districts  in  which  the  dialect  is 
spoken,  and  which  is  not  understood  elsewhere.  He  is  even  then 
not  able  to  settle  away  from  those  ports  where  the  vices  of  the 
European  population  go  far  toward  neutralizing  his  efforts.  The 
Roman  Catholic,  on  the  other  hand,  does  not  remain  above  four  or 
five  months  at  a  station  before  he  is  turned  out  upon  the  field  of 
his  labors  and  left  to  pick  up  the  language  as  best  he  may,  living 
with  the  Chinese,  dressing  as  they  do,  and  altogether  identifying 


DEPARTURE  OF  THE  PLENIPOTENTIARIES. 


177 


himself  with  those  whom  he  seeks  to  influence.  With  the  excep¬ 
tion  of  Mr.  Burn,  comparatively  few  of  our  missionaries  have  fol¬ 
lowed  this  example.  The  opening  of  the  country,  however,  by 
the  new  treaty,  and  the  protection  which  it  guarantees  to  Chris¬ 
tian  missionaries,  will  doubtless  inaugurate  a  new  era  in  evangel¬ 
ical  enterprise. 

On  the  3d  of  April  we  received  intelligence  from  the  south 
that  the  admiral  had  postponed  his  departure  for  ten  days. 
Though  considerably  embarrassed  by  this  circumstance,  Lord  El¬ 
gin  decided,  in  conjunction  with  Baron  Gros,  that  it  was  expedi¬ 
ent  that  the  allied  plenipotentiaries  should  proceed  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Peiho,  in  accordance  with  the  determination  which  had 
been  so  strongly  expressed  to  the  Chinese  government,  as  any  ap¬ 
pearance  of  wavering  at  so  critical  a  juncture  would  be  liable  to 
entail  serious  results.  In  order,  however,  as  far  as  possible  to 
carry  out  his  original  policy,  his  excellency  took  on  himself  the 
responsibility  of  requesting  Sir  Frederick  Mcolson,  then  senior 
officer  at  Shanghai,  to  supply  him  with  as  large  a  naval  force  as 
could  be  spared  from  the  station.  The  opportune  arrival  of  the 
Highflyer,  as  relief  of  the  Pique,  enabled  Sir  F.  Nicolson  to  ac¬ 
company  us  himself  to  the  north,  and  the  Cormorant,  dispatch 
gun-vessel,  and  Slaney,  gun-boat,  completed  our  little  squadron. 
His  excellency,  before  his  departure,  left  a  letter  for  the  admiral, 
in  which  he  states  A  “I  am  most  anxious  for  the  arrival  of  the 
gun-boats  drawing  little  water,  which  are  referred  to  in  your  let¬ 
ter  to  me  of  the  2d  ultimo,  because  I  am  confident  that  nothing 
will  be  so  likely  to  bring  the  imperial  government  to  terms  as  the 
appearance  of  vessels  of  war  within  the  bar  of  the  Peiho  Kiver. 
Such  vessels  will,  moreover,  be  indispensable  if  it  should  be  nec¬ 
essary  to  ascend  that  river  to  Tientsin.” 

At  daylight  on  the  morning  of  the  10th  we  left  Shanghai  with 
the  Slaney  in  tow :  the  Russian  steamer  “  Amerika,”  with  Count 
Poutiatine  on  board,  had  left  a  day  or  two  previously,  and  the  Au- 
dacieuse  and  Minnesota  were  to  follow  immediately.  Instructions 
were  left  with  Captain  Shadwell,  of  the  Highflyer,  to  forward  with¬ 
out  delay  any  British  man-of-war  that  might  arri  ve  at  Shanghai. 

We  were  favored  with  lovely  weather  up  the  Yellow  Sea,  The 
force  of  the  northwest  monsoon  was  apparently  expended,  and 
we  were  followed  by  light  southerly  gales.  To  these  warm  winds, 
*  Blue-Book,  Earl  of  Elgin  to  Sir  M.  Seymour,  8th  of  April,  1858. 

M 


178  THE  miatou  straits.— aground  on  a  sand-bank. 

and  the  low  temperature  of  the  water  in  consequence  of  the  melt¬ 
ing  of  the  winter  snows,  was  doubtless  to  be  attributed  the  haze 
that  shrouded  the  horizon,  and  through  which,  on  the  morning  of 
the  13th,  loomed  indistinctly  the  lofty  promontory  of  Shantung, 
the  easternmost  point  of  China.  After  rounding  the  cape,  we 
coasted  along  its  northern  shore,  passing  the  port  of  Chee-foo, 
where  we  observed  many  junks  at  anchor  in  the  distance.  This 
town  lies  at  the  head  of  the  bay  of  Ki-san-sen,  and  was  entered  by 
Lord  Macartney  by  mistake  for  Teng-chow.  A  high  rocky  prom¬ 
ontory,  connected  with  the  main  land  by  a  low  sandy  isthmus, 
terminates  in  a  bold  peak,  rising  to  a  height  of  1130  feet  above  the 
sea ;  beyond  this  the  shore  is  sandy,  with  a  background  of  barren 
mountains.  Altogether  the  scenery  reminded  me  of  some  parts 
of  the  coast  of  Barbary,  while  the  climate,  on  that  day,  was  exact¬ 
ly  that  of  the  Mediterraneaii  in  early  spring.  Soon  after,  our  ex¬ 
perience  destroyed  any  hope  of  this  analogy  lasting. 

At  5  P.M.  we  sighted  the  large  walled  town  of  Teng-chow,  one 
of  the  ports  opened  by  the  new  treaty.  The  city  is  in  the  form  of 
a  parallelogram,  and  of  considerable  extent,  the  walls  running 
along  the  sea-shore  for  upward  of  three  miles.  At  the  extreme 
right  they  terminate  in  a  hill,  crowned  by  a  citadel  and  joss-house. 
The  coast,  however,  does  not  afford  any  shelter  at  this  point,  nor 
did  we  see  any  junks  at  anchor  off  the  town.  The  most  available 
harbor  for  Teng-chow  is  situated  in  the  Miatou  group.  These  isl¬ 
ands,  immediately  opposite  the  city,  are  separated  from  the  main 
land  by  straits  about  four  miles  across ;  the  largest  and  nearest  is 
Chang-shan  :  it  is  seven  miles  long  and  three  broad.  Here,  in  all 
probability,  will  be  established  the  future  foreign  settlement.  It 
forms  one  side  of  a  secure  bay,  in  which  we  saw  an  enormous  fleet 
of  grain -junks  at  anchor.  We  were  allowed  some  little  leisure  to 
make  observations  on  the  subject,  as,  while  steaming  rapidly 
through  the  straits,  we  suddenly  grounded  with  considerable  force 
upon  a  sand-bank  at  a  spot  where  the  chart  gave  nine  fathoms  of 
water.  Our  gun-boat  in  tow  had  acquired  such  impetus  that  she 
ran  into  our  quarter,  and  lost  her  mizzen-mast  before  she  could  get 
clear  of  us.  A  tide  running  like  a  mill-race,  and  a  strong  north¬ 
west  breeze,  increased  the  difficulties  of  the  situation ;  but  by  dint 
of  getting  all  our  heavy  gear  aft,  going  vigorously  full  speed  astern, 
and  making  the  men  roll  and  jump  the  ship,  at  the  expiration  of 
an  hour  our  exertions  were  rewarded  with  success.  Although  it 


ARRIVAL  IN  THE  GULF  OF  PECHELEE. 


179 


was  by  this  time  dark,  our  indefatigable  and  skillful  master,  Mr. 
Court,  carried  us  safely  through  the  straits.  As  this  gentleman 
had  performed  the  northwest  passage  as  the  master  of  Sir  Robert 
Maclure’s  ship  “Investigator,”  his  nerves  had  undergone  a  train¬ 
ing  which  rendered  them  proof  under  all  circumstances. 

The  province  of  Shantung,  of  which  Teng-chow  is  the  principal 
sea-board  city,  possesses  the  enviable  notoriety  in  China  of  having 
produced  its  greatest  philosopher,  Confucius.  Its  most  distinguish¬ 
ing  feature  is  its  lofty  range  of  mountains,  of  which  the  highest, 
Tai-shan,  is  celebrated  throughout  the  empire.  Notwithstanding 
its  mountainous  character  and  barren  aspect,  Shantung  alone  con- 
tains  a  population  equal  to  that  of  the  United  Kingdom,  distrib¬ 
uted  over  an  area  not  exceeding  that  of  England,  Scotland,  and 
Wales. 

Daylight  of  the  14th  of  April  found  us  plowing  the  muddy  wa¬ 
ters  of  the  Gulf.  Our  soundings,  which  did  not  vary,  gave  us  ten 
fathoms.  In  many  respects  the  Gulf  of  Pechelee  resembles  the 
Sea  of  Azof,  but  its  waters  are  not  quite  so  green  or  thick.  We 
observed  numerous  junks  on  their  way  to  or  from  the  mouth  of 
the  Peiho,  and  the  varied  character  of  their  construction  proved 
that  many  were  from  the  ports  of  Manchouria,  or  perhaps  even 
the  Corea.  Toward  the  afternoon  it  began  to  shoal,  and  this  was 
the  only  indication  that  we  had  reached  our  destination.  Nothing 
could  be  more  dreary  than  the  scene  when  the  cry  of  four  fathoms 
was  followed  by  the  order  “Stop  her!”  which  we  were  loth  to 
construe  into  “  Stop  here.”  It  was  dreadful  to  contemplate  the 
prospect  of  remaining  permanently  at  anchor  in  so  forlorn  a  spot. 
Not  a  sign  of  land  broke  the  monotony  of  the  dim  hazy  horizon. 
The  turbid  waters  were  lashed  into  foam  by  gales  which  spun 
round  to  every  point  on  the  compass  with  incredible  velocity,  and 
kept  the  gulf  in  the  condition  of  a  caldron  of  boiling  pea-soup. 
Just  as  we  were  going  to  let  go  the  anchor  in  despair,  we  descried 
through  the  misty  atmosphere  the  little  “  Amerika”  at  anchor,  and 
steamed  off  to  her  for  consolation  and  company.  Count  Poutia- 
tine  had  already  communicated  with  the  shore,  and  an  opaque 
white-button  mandarin  had  received  a  note  which  he  had  sent 
ashore  notifying  his  arrival.  The  party  had  not  landed,  but  a 
large  crowd  of  spectators  had  collected  on  the  shore  to  inspect 
them.  Presents  had  afterward  been  sent  off,  which,  however,  the 
Russians  had  declined. 


180  dreary  weather.— an  expedition  across  the  bar. 

While  communicating  with  the  Amerika  the  Pique  hove  in 
sight;  and  as  we  found  that,  at  the  Amerika’s  anchorage,  we 
should  be  aground  at  low-water,  we  weighed  and  anchored  with¬ 
in  half  a  mile  of  the  frigate.  At  low  tide  we  had  twenty-two  feet 
of  water,  the  distance  from  the  shore  being  somewhat  oyer  eight 
miles.  As  the  coast  of  the  province  of  Chili  is  very  flat,  the  mud 
forts  at  the  mouth  of  the  Peiho  were  only  visible  from  the  deck 
of  the  Furious  during  brilliant  sunsets,  and  on  other  rare  occa¬ 
sions,  which,  however,  for  the  first  few  days  of  our  stay  did  not 
present  themselves.  Cutting  northeast  gales  swept  over  the  dreary 
waters  of  the  Gulf,  and  whistled  dolefully  through  the  shrouds,  ill 
preparing  us  to  meet  the  sudden  transition;  blasts  of  hot  air, 
charged  with  impalpable  dust  from  the  desert  of  Gobi,  not  only 
completely  obscured  the  horizon,  but  cracked  our  lips,  parched 
our  throats,  and  insinuated  itself  into  the  innermost  recesses  of  our 
clothing,  or  served  as  a  general  pepper  to  our  food.  Then  would 
come  another  change  of  wind,  and  a  pitiless  rain ;  and  the  dust  we 
had  been  anathematizing  became  visible  as  in  muddy  runnels  it 
trickled  down  the  rigging  and  sides  of  the  funnels. 

On  the  second  day  after  our  arrival  in  the  Gulf  the  Cormorant 
made  her  appearance,  and  anchored  near  the  bar.  As  Lord  Elgin 
had  not  abandoned  his  intention  of  pushing  up  to  Tientsin  with 
as  little  delay  as  possible,  the  Slaney,  Lieutenant  Hoskins,  was 
sent  across  the  bar  to  capture  a  few  empty  junks,  into  which  the 
Cormorant  might  discharge  her  coal  and  other  dead-weight  pre¬ 
vious  to  trying  the  experiment  of  crossing. 

I  proceeded  in  the  Slaney  on  this  expedition,  glad  of  the  oppor¬ 
tunity  of  obtaining  a  nearer  view  of  the  forts  of  which  we  had 
heard  so  much  and  knew  so  little.  We  found  the  bar  to  be  about 
a  mile  wide,  the  channel  marked  by  stakes,  from  which  hung 
bunches  of  black  net.  At  the  top  of  high  water  (springs)  there 
were  upward  of  eleven  feet  of  water  at  the  shallowest  part ;  and, 
as  we  afterward  found,  at  dead  neaps  the  depth  was  eighteen  inch¬ 
es  or  two  feet.  There  is,  however,  scarcely  any  inequality  in  the 
surface  of  the  bottom.  For  a  mile  it  is  as  flat  as  a  billiard-table, 
and  as  hard. 

Crowds  of  junks  were  entering  the  river  like  chickens  running 
for  shelter.  Our  appearance  evidently  caused  no  little  sensation 
among  them,  which  was  not  diminished  when  they  saw  one  of  their 
number  suddenly  boarded  by  a  boat-load  of  barbarians,  and  her 


JUNK-HUNTING. 


181 


head  put  out  to  sea.  Propelling  the  unwieldly  craft  with  long 
poles,  they  accompanied  their  efforts  to  escape  with  a  loud  cry  of 
alarm,  which  was  taken  up  by  each  successive  junk,  until  the 
sounds  died  away  in  the  distance.  However,  we  had  no  hostile 
intentions,  and  our  wants  were  limited  to  four  or  five  empty  junks : 
two  of  these,  capable  of  carrying  a  hundred  or  a  hundred  and  fifty 
tons  each,  were  dispatched  to  the  Cormorant ;  the  others  were 
taken  in  tow  by  the  Slaney,  and  were  appropriated  by  the  Pique 
and  Furious,  as  likely  to  prove  useful  in  our  ascent  of  the  river. 

This  expedition  had  led  us  right  across  the  bar,  and  we  pushed 
our  reconnaissance  to  within  a  mile  of  the  forts.  We  made  out 
three  forts  on  the  south,  and  two  on  the  north  bank  of  the  river. 
Innumerable  banners  fluttered  from  the  parapets  and  embrasures, 
waving  defiance ;  and  an  extensive  crowd,  probably  of  soldiers, 
were  drawn  up  along  the  whole  length  of  the  batteries,  watching, 
no  doubt  with  no  small  wonderment,  the  evolutions  of  the  little 
Slaney  as  she  pounced  upon  her  prey,  and  went  puffing  off  over  the 
bar  in  the  wind’s  eye  with  a  string  of  junks  at  her  stern.  Some 
of  these  junks  were  of  a  different  construction  from  those  we  had 
been  accustomed  to  see  in  the  south;  many  of  them  had  come 
across  the  Gulf  from  New-chwang  with  grain  or  beans,  and  some 
very  possibly  from  the  Corea.  The  crews  at  first  were  much 
alarmed,  but  upon  discovering  that  our  intentions  were  harmless, 
entirely  recovered  their  equanimity ;  and  when  farther  informed 
that  they  should  be  sent  on  shore,  and  receive  a  reasonable  sum 
as  the  hire  of  their  boats  while  they  were  employed,  they  seemed 
quite  reconciled  to  the  arrangement,  and  proved  their  confidence 
in  us  some  time  after  by  getting  paid  part  of  the  junk-hire  in  ad¬ 
vance,  and  then  taking  advantage  of  a  dark  night  secretly  to  come 
and  endeavor  to  abstract  the  junks  from  their  moorings. 

The  next  day  two  petty  mandarins  came  on  board,  evidently 
on  a  tour  of  inspection,  as  they  were  not  the  bearers  of  any  mes¬ 
sage  ;  indeed,  hitherto  we  had  had  no  official  communication  with 
the  shore.  The  arrival  of  the  United  States  steamer  Mississippi, 
with  Mr.  Peed  on  board,  doubtless  afforded  these  gentlemen  fresh 
matter  for  speculation. 

The  Nimrod,  Captain  Dew,  a  dispatch  gun- vessel  of  rather  great¬ 
er  draught  than  the  Cormorant,  and  which  had  been  forwarded 
by  Captain  Shad  well,  reached  the  anchorage  on  the  19  th ;  but  by 
this  time  the  spring-tides  had  passed.  It  was  considered  impos- 


182 


DIFFICULTIES  OF  THE  SITUATION. 


sible  for  the  Nimrod,  and  a  rash  experiment  for  the  Cormorant, 
to  attempt  the  traject.  Under  these  circumstances  there  was  only 
one  gun-boat  available,  and,  although  it  was  highly  probable  that 
at  that  period  she  might  have  passed  the  forts  without  being  fired 
upon,  still  it  was  a  risk  which  neither  Lord  Elgin  nor  Sir  Freder¬ 
ick  Nicolson  felt  justified  in  incurring.  There  was,  therefore, 
no  alternative  but  to  await  patiently  the  arrival  of  the  admirals 
and  a  larger  force — a  necessity  which  ultimately  compelled  Lord 
Elgin  to  abandon  entirely  his  original  policy.  It  had  been  his 
hope,  when  he  proceeded  from  Shanghai  to  the  north,  that  at  or 
about  the  time  of  his  arrival  in  the  Gulf  of  Pechelee,  a  force,  es¬ 
pecially  of  gun-boats  drawing  little  water,  would  be  collected  there 
sufficiently  large  to  enable  him  to  approach  the  capital  at  once, 
and  to  conclude  a  peace  at  such  a  period  of  the  year  as  would 
have  admitted  of  his  visiting  Pekin  before  the  hot  season. 

If  this  plan  had  been  carried  out,  not  only  would  many  of  the 
inconveniences  I  shall  have  to  detail  been  avoided,  but  the  diffi¬ 
cult  question  of  direct  intercourse  with  the  emperor  would  have 
been  solved  at  a  moment  when  there  were  unusual  facilities  for 
settling  it  satisfactorily.  Unfortunately,  this  hope  was  not  real¬ 
ized.  In  order  to  employ  the  time  which  elapsed  before  the  ar¬ 
rival  of  the  gun-boats,  it  was  necessary  to  spend  five  weeks  in 
temporizing  at  the  mouth  of  the  Peiho,  during  which  time  the 
Chinese  authorities  not  unnaturally  strengthened  their  defenses, 
and  sent  orders  to  the  Braves  in  the  neighborhood  of  Canton  to 
harass  us  in  our  occupation  of  the  city.  A  farther  consequence 
of  this  delay  was  that,  before  the  treaty  of  Tientsin  was  concluded, 
the  thermometer  was  96°  in  the  shade — a  state  of  things  which, 
coupled  with  the  urgent  call  from  Hong  Kong  and  Canton  for  the 
return  of  the  force,  rendered  any  advance  on  the  capital  highly 
inexpedient.  Owing  to  this  circumstance,  it  was  left  for  the  min¬ 
ister  charged  with  the  ratification  of  the  treaty  to  solve  the  deli¬ 
cate  questions  involved  in  the  reception  of  a  British  mission  at 
Pekin. 

Meanwhile  our  only  excitement  consisted  in  sounding  and  re¬ 
connoitring  the  mouth  of  the  river.  The  result  of  our  investiga¬ 
tions  only  confirmed  us  in  our  original  estimate  of  the  insignifi¬ 
cance  of  the  forts,  which  were  totally  unprotected  from  attack 
from  the  rear,  and,  though  formidable  in  their  extent  and  display 
of  banners,  were  little  more  than  a  line  of  mud  batteries.  During 


ANOTHER  LETTER  TO  THE  PRIME  MINISTER. 


183 


the  five  weeks  which  elapsed  before  they  were  attacked,  hundreds 
of  men  were  employed  in  strengthening  and  adding  to  them :  we 
could  observe  guns  of  heavy  calibre  daily  taking  the  places  in  the 
embrasures  of  the  flaunting  banners. 

Sometimes  sundry  members  of  the  mission  would  dispense  with 
naval  assistance  upon  these  occasions,  and  one  dark  night,  when 
three  or  four  of  us  were  navigating  a  very  unseaworthy  native 
craft,  we  were  caught  in  a  storm,  and,  more  by  good  luck  than 
good  management,  were  picked  up  by  the  Slaney,  and  thus  saved 
from  prematurely  making  acquaintance  with  the  forts  of  Takoo. 
It  needed  an  occasional  adventure  of  this  sort  to  relieve  the  ex¬ 
cessive  monotony  of  our  existence. 

The  arrival  of  Baron  Gros  on  the  21st  was  the  signal  for  re¬ 
newed  diplomatic  action,  and  the  four  plenipotentiaries,  being  now 
assembled  in  the  Gulf,  decided  on  severally  dispatching  to  the 
prime  minister  Yu,  with  whom  they  had  already  communicated 
through  Soo-chow,  another  letter.  Lord  Elgin,  in  this  dispatch 
to  the  prime  minister,  notified  his  arrival  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Peiho,  in  pursuance  of  the  intimation  expressed  in  his  letter  from 
Shanghai  of  the  1st  instant,  of  placing  himself  in  more  immediate 
communication  with  the  high  officers  of  the  imperial  government 
at  the  capital;  and  his  excellency  went  on  to  say  that  he  was 
“  prepared  to  meet  at  Takoo,  either  on  board  of  his  own  ship  or 
on  shore,  a  minister  duly  authorized  by  the  Emperor  of  China  to 
treat  with  him,  and  to  settle  by  negotiation  the  several  questions 
affecting  the  relations  of  Great  Britain  with  China,  which  are  de¬ 
tailed  in  a  letter  of  the  undersigned  to  the  prime  minister  bearing- 
date  February  11. 

“If,  before  the  expiry  of  six  days  from  the  date  of  the  present 
communication,  a  minister  so  accredited  shall  not  have  presented 
himself  at  Takoo,  the  undersigned  will  consider  this  pacific  over¬ 
ture  to  have  been  rejected,  and  deem  himself  to  be  thenceforward 
at  liberty  to  adopt  such  farther  measures  for  enforcing  the  just 
claims  of  his  government  on  that  of  China  as  he  may  think  expe¬ 
dient.” 

Although  Tientsin  had  been  the  point  originally  intended  for 
negotiation,  Lord  Elgin  was  compelled,  now  that  he  found  him¬ 
self  deprived  of  all  certainty  of  ever  reaching  that  place,  to  name 
Takoo. 

On  the  24th  of  April  the  Slaney  towed  in  the  boats  of  the  four 


184 


ASPECT  OF  THE  FORTS. 


powers,  their  several  flags  floating  gayly  in  the  morning  breeze. 
I  accompanied  Mr.  Wade,  who  was  charged  with  the  delivery  of 
the  letter.  As  it  was  low  water,  we  left  the  Slaney  at  the  bar, 
and  pulled  into  the  river  to  a  wooden  causeway,  which,  crossing 
the  mud  flat  from  the  centre  fort,  seemed  to  indicate  the  principal 
landing-place.  Here  we  were  received  by  a  transparent  blue-but¬ 
ton  mandarin,  who  apologized  profusely  for  being  obliged  to  re¬ 
fuse  our  request  to  land.  So  we  received  him  into  our  boats,  and 
delivered  the  letters  to  him.  Meanwhile  a  large  crowd,  chiefly 
of  soldiers,  collected  round  us  as  spectators.  They  were  fine-look¬ 
ing  men,  with  a  uniform  consisting  of  an  ample  brown  cape  with 
a  broad  pink  border,  over  long  blue  coats  and  trowsers.  During 
the  short  while  that  the  conference  between  Mr.  Wade  and  the 
mandarin  lasted  in  the  boat,  we  were  narrowly  inspecting  the 
“terrain”  generally.  Some  of  the  brass  pieces  were  of  enormous 
calibre,  but  I  could  not  count  above  fifty  at  this  time.  At  the 
other  end  of  the  jetty  to  which  we  were  moored  a  large  blue  tent 
had  been  pitched  for  the  reception  of  sundry  high  officials  who 
were  expected.  At  that  moment  some  of  the  Russians  were  on 
shore,  having  an  audience  with  the  treasurer  of  the  province.  We, 
however,  had  not  insinuated  ourselves  so  deeply  into  the  good 
graces  of  the  Chinese  as  our  allies,  whose  neutral  attitude  natu¬ 
rally  placed  them  on  a  different  footing  vis-a-vis  the  imperial  gov¬ 
ernment,  which  every  day  of  delay  enabled  them  to  improve. 

From  this  point  the  forts  looked  like  a  range  of  huge  perigord 
pies,  the  flags  rather  aiding  their  resemblance  to  ornamented  pas¬ 
try.  These  banners  were  angular  in  shape,  with  a  scalloped  bor¬ 
der,  and  white  spots  on  a  blue  or  yellow  ground. 

As  we  had  at  this  time  eighteen  gun-boats  in  the  China  Seas, 
we  were  still  sanguine  enough  to  hope  that,  before  the  expiry  of 
the  term  fixed  in  the  above-mentioned  letter  to  the  prime  minis¬ 
ter,  the  two  admirals  would  arrive  in  the  Gulf,  accompanied  by  a 
force  of  gun-boats  sufficient,  should  that  step  prove  necessary,  to 
render  the  capture  of  the  forts  an  easy  operation.  Great  was  our 
disappointment  when,  after  beating  back  from  our  mission  into 
the  forts,  we  found  the  only  accession  to  the  squadron  was  the 
flag-ship  Calcutta,  but  no  gun-boat,  or  chance  of  any  for  some 
days.  However,  those  energetic  officers,  Captains  Dew  and  Sau- 
marez,  had  satisfied  themselves,  after  repeated  inspections  of  the 
bar,  that  it  would  be  possible  to  force  the  long-heeled  craft  they 


THE  DISPATCH  VESSELS  CROSS  THE  BAR. 


185 


commanded  across  it.  The  Coromandel  (admiral’s  tender),  a  pad¬ 
dle-wheel  steamer,  was  also  available  for  the  same  purpose ;  and 
the  appearance,  on  the  following  day,  of  Admiral  Kigault  de  Gre- 
nouilly,  accompanied  by  all  his  force,  including  three  gun-boats, 
once  more  raised  our  hopes  of  getting  speedily  to  Tientsin. 

The  arrival  of  these  vessels  convinced  us  that,  so  far  as  the 
monsoon  was  concerned,  there  existed  no  obstacle  to  the  passage 
of  our  gun-boats  along  the  coast.  They  had  already  weathered 
the  Cape,  and  were  now  not  surely  incapable  of  following  in  the 
wake  of  the  French.  Indeed,  had  there  been  any  chance  of  de¬ 
lay  arising  from  this  cause,  it  would  probably  have  been  mention¬ 
ed  when  the  gun-boats  were  first  applied  for.  Inasmuch,  how¬ 
ever,  as,  notwithstanding  their  absence,  the  allied  force  had  now 
become  formidable,  Lord  Elgin  lost  no  time  in  repeating  to  the 
admiral  his  opinion  of  the  importance  of  a  movement  on  Tientsin ; 
and  it  was  arranged  that  an  attempt  should  be  made  at  the  first 
spring-tides  to  push  the  dispatch  vessels  over  the  bar;  so  that 
they  might  be  in  readiness,  should  the  answer  of  the  prime  minis¬ 
ter  render  necessary  the  capture  of  the  forts  on  the  1st  of  May. 
On  the  28th  of  April  the  first  attempt  was  made,  but  the  tide  was 
not  sufficiently  high  for  our  vessels,  though  some  of  the  French 
gun-boats,  which  drew  less  water,  succeeded  in  scraping  over.  On 
the  following  day,  however,  the  Nimrod  was  forced  over  by  her 
indefatigable  commander,  while  the  Cormorant  ran  past  all  the 
French  gun-boats,  and  anchored  within  about  1500  yards  of  the 
forts.  When  this  little  squadron  was  joined  by  the  Coromandel, 
we  had  seven  men-of-war  inside  the  bar. 

On  the  30th  an  extremely  unsatisfactory  communication  was 
received  from  Tan,  governor  general  of  Chili,  stating  that  he  had, 
in  conjunction  with  a  mandarin  named  Tsung-lun,  director  gener¬ 
al  of  granaries,  and  Wu,  under  secretary  of  the  cabinet,  been  ap¬ 
pointed  commissioner  to  meet  the  foreign  plenipotentiaries  at  Ta- 
koo,  and  enter  upon  negotiations.  As  he  did  not  allude  to  the 
nature  or  extent  of  the  powers  with  which  he  was  invested,  he 
was  called  upon  to  define  them,  and  informed  that,  if  they  were 
not  as  full  as  those  held  by  Lord  Elgin,  and  specified  in  his  former 
communications  as  required,  he  (the  embassador)  would  regard  his 
pacific  overture  for  the  appointment  of  a  “  duly  qualified  officer” 
as  rejected.  The  reply  to  this  letter  was  to  the  effect  that  the 
powers  of  Tan,  Tsung,  and  Wu  were  limited  to  reporting  our  de- 


186 


POSTPONEMENT  OF  ATTACK. 


mands,  etc.,  to  the  capital.  The  whole  of  this  correspondence  took 
place  on  the  30th.  Under  these  circumstances,  the  only  course 
left  seemed  to  be  to  send  in  an  ultimatum  to  Tan,  stating  that  the 
plenipotentiaries  had  now  placed  the  matter  in  the  hands  of  the 
allied  naval  authorities. 

As  the  1st  of  May  had  been  the  day  originally  fixed  as  the  ex¬ 
piry  of  the  “delai  fatal  ”  the  excitement  became  pretty  general 
throughout  the  fleet  on  the  30th,  more  especially  in  consequence 
of  a  signal  being  made  by  the  flag-ship  for  the  small-arm  men  to 
hold  themselves  in  readiness  for  landing.  General  orders  were 
also  issued  by  the  admiral,  containing  the  dispositions  of  attack. 
On  the  1st,  consequently,  great  were  the  preparations  on  board 
the  Furious.  Excited  midshipmen,  staggering  under  blankets, 
canteens,  and  havresacks,  rushed  frantically  about  the  deck  ;  the 
landing-parties  had  their  rations  served  out,  and  were  told  off ;  the 
paddle-box-boats  were  lowered,  and  the  guns  put  in  them ;  and 
all  were  on  the  tiptoe  of  expectation  until  the  afternoon,  when  it 
began  to  be  whispered  that  a  change  had  taken  place  in  the  views 
of  the  naval  commander-in-chief,  and  that  an  attack  on  the  forts 
was  indefinitely  postponed.  This  took  all  the  world  by  surprise, 
as  nothing  had  occurred  which  could  explain  this  alteration  of 
plan. 

Thus  a  second  time  the  policy  which  Lord  Elgin  had  determ¬ 
ined  to  carry  out  in  his  movement  to  the  north  sustained  a  check ; 
on  the  first  occasion,  in  consequence  of  the  absence  of  gun¬ 
boats  to  support  him  on  his  arrival  in  the  Gulf,  he  had  been  com¬ 
pelled  to  invite  a  Chinese  plenipotentiary  to  meet  him  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Peiho,  instead  of  proceeding  to  some  point  nearer 
to  the  capital — a  change  of  plan  which  was  very  injurious,  be¬ 
cause  the  mouth  of  the  Peiho  was  the  scene  of  the  abortive  nego¬ 
tiations  of  Sir  John  Bowring  in  1854 ;  and  now  again,  when  the 
Chinese  plenipotentiaries  had  failed  to  produce  their  credentials 
within  a  fixed  period,  he  was  thwarted  in  his  desire  to  foil  their 
attempts  at  evasion  by  a  rapid  and  immediate  movement  up  the 
country.  The  consequences  of  these  delays  were  serious  in  the 
extreme.  In  a  military  point  of  view  they  are  graphically  de¬ 
scribed  in  the  admiral’s  dispatch  of  the  21st  of  May,  upon  the  oc¬ 
casion  of  the  taking  of  the  forts  three  weeks  afterward.  “From 
the  arrival  of  the  embassadors  on  the  14th  of  April,”  says  his  ex¬ 
cellency,  “  the  Chinese  have  used  every  exertion  to  strengthen  the 


POLITICAL  CONSEQUENCES  OF  THE  DELAY. 


187 


forts  at  the  entrance  to  the  Peiho ;  earthworks,  sand-bag  batteries, 
and  parapets  for  the  heavy  gingalls,  have  been  erected  on  both 
sides  for  a  distance  of  nearly  a  mile  in  length,  upon  which  eighty- 
seven  guns  in  position  were  visible ;  and  the  whole  shore  had  been 
piled  to  oppose  a  landing.”  Politically  they  were  even  more  dis¬ 
astrous,  because,  by  obliging  Lord  Elgin  to  protract,  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Peiho,  negotiations  which  he  clearly  saw  could  lead  to  no 
good  result,  they  gave  to  his  proceedings  a  vacillating  character, 
which  was  calculated  to  strengthen  the  self-confidence  of  the  Chi¬ 
nese  diplomatists. 


188 


PERILOUS  POSITION  OF  DISPATCH  GUN-BOATS. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Perilous  Position  of  Dispatch  Gun -boats. — Strengthening  of  the  Forts. — Arrival  of 
Chinese  Re-enforcements. — The  Question  of  full  Powers. — Anglo-American  Visit 
to  the  Peiho  in  1854. — Intercourse  on  that  Occasion. — Interview  with  Tsung  and 
Tan. — Memorial  of  Commissioners  in  1854. — Reference  to  Pekin. — Contemptuous 
Treatment  by  the  Chinese  Government. — Anxiety  as  to  future  Movements. — Mem¬ 
orandum  of  Sir  M.  Seymour. — Communication  with  Tan. — The  final  Summons. — 
Insolence  of  the  Garrison. 

Eor  the  next  three  weeks  our  life  in  the  Gulf  was  one  of  abso¬ 
lute  inaction.  This  was  the  more  trying,  as  the  cool  season  was 
slipping  rapidly  past.  The  hot  gusts  came  oftener,  and  in  one 
week  the  thermometer  rose  from  42°  to  74°.  During  all  this 
time  hundreds  of  grain -junks  were  passing  into  the  mouth  of  the 
river,  bearing  the  annual  tribute  of  rice,  on  which  Pekin  is  so  en¬ 
tirely  dependent.  The  interception  of  this  grain-fleet  had  been 
one  of  Lord  Elgin’s  principal  objects  in  pushing  northward  early, 
and  desiring  to  be  accompanied  by  the  gun-boats.  It  was  impos¬ 
sible,  however,  to  establish  a  blockade  while  negotiations  ostensi¬ 
bly  pacific  were  still  in  progress,  and  it  was  equally  impossible  to 
bring  those  negotiations  to  a  close  until  the  naval  authorities  an¬ 
nounced  that  they  were  in  a  position  to  take  the  forts ;  because, 
if  a  state  of  hostilities  had  been  produced  before  they  were  able 
to  effect  this  object,  the  dispatch  gun-boats,  which  were  over  the 
bar,  and  unable  to  recross  it  except  at  spring-tides,  would  obvi¬ 
ously  have  been  in  a  very  perilous  situation.  Meanwhile  Count 
Poutiatine  had  pushed  his  little  steamer  across  the  bar,  and  was 
living  in  the  river  and  in  daily  communication  with  the  Chinese. 
Mr.  Reed,  also,  had  frequent  intercourse  with  the  commissioners ; 
and  neither  time  nor  opportunity  were  wanting  to  enable  the 
neutral  powers  to  exercise  the  blessed  functions  of  the  peace¬ 
maker. 

There  were  now  a  sufficient  number  of  ships  inside  the  bar  to 
induce  us  to  pay  them  frequent  visits,  partly  as  a  break  to  the 
monotony  of  our  life,  and  partly  to  watch  the  progress  of  the  for¬ 
tifications  and  the  arrival  of  Chinese  re-enforcements.  From  the 
main-top  of  the  Nimrod  a  most  interesting  bird’s-eye  view  was 


ARRIVAL  OF  CHINESE  RE-ENFORCEMENTS. 


189 


obtained  of  the  flat  peninsula  on  which  the  forts  were  placed,  and 
the  steppe  country  stretching  away  to  the  horizon.  Immediately 
beneath  was  the  line  of  batteries,  in  which  Chinamen  were  work¬ 
ing  like  ants,  happily  thoughtless  of  throwing  up  any  works  in 
their  rear,  solely  occupied  in  getting  more  guns  into  position,  and 
strengthening  the  front  face.  These  defenses  were  properly 
known  as  the  forts  of  Tung-koo.  Behind  them  the  plain  extend¬ 
ed  across  the  neck  of  the  peninsula  for  about  a  mile,  to  the  town 
of  Takoo,  situated  on  a  bend  of  the  river.  Mandarins  in  state, 
officers  on  horseback,  surrounded  by  their  military  retinue,  Tartar 
couriers,  soldiers,  and  camp-followers  of  all  descriptions,  were  seen 
constantly  passing  across  this  plain ;  while  here,  for  the  first  time 
in  China,  we  saw  carts  drawn  by  horses  or  mules,  generally  tan¬ 
dem.  In  the  town  of  Takoo,  a  pagoda  or  two  marked  the  resi¬ 
dence  of  the  commissioners  and  the  principal  temples ;  while  be¬ 
hind  it,  a  line  of  trees  denoted  the  course  of  the  river,  and  fur¬ 
nished  a  green  background  refreshing  to  look  upon. 

On  the  north  bank  of  the  river,  two  square  forts,  built  more  in 
accordance  with  civilized  ideas  of  fortification,  were  undergoing 
repair  and  armament,  while  in  rear  of  them,  upon  the  arid  salt¬ 
pans,  a  large  camp,  the  tents  scarcely  distinguishable  from  the  salt 
tumuli,  betokened  the  arrival  of  an  extensive  body  of  troops  from 
Pekin.  A  cavalry  regiment  forming  part  of  this  force  was  an  at¬ 
tractive  object  of  inspection.  Near  this  camp  another  battery 
was  in  progress  of  erection,  in  a  position  which  commanded  a 
long  reach  of  the  river. 

The  masts  of  junks,  forming  a  forest  of  dry  sticks  beyond  Ta¬ 
koo,  showed  how  thickly  the  river  was  packed  with  craft ;  while 
innumerable  white  sails  dotted  the  horizon,  and  the  clumsy  hulls 
of  others,  which  had  reached  their  destination  at  low  water,  were 
imbedded  in  the  vast  expanse  of  mud  which  stretched  out  to  sea¬ 
ward. 

On  the  6th  of  May  the  plenipotentiaries  found  themselves  com¬ 
pelled  to  seek  a  new  pretext  for  correspondence  in  order  to  gain 
time,  and  for  that  purpose  reopened  negotiations  with  Tan  and 
Tsung.  As  the  Chinese  commissioners,  when  required  to  produce 
the  proper  credentials,  were  in  the  habit  of  declaring  that  it  was 
not  in  accordance  with  the  usages  of  the  empire  to  grant  to  em¬ 
bassadors  full  powers  similar  to  those  conferred  by  European 
sovereigns  on  their  representatives,  Lord  Elgin  transmitted  to 


190 


ANGLO-AMERICAN  VISIT  TO  THE  PEIHO. 


them  a  copy  of  the  full  powers  granted  by  the  imperial  govern¬ 
ment  to  Keying  and  Hippo  on  the  occasion  of  their  treating  with 
Sir  Henry  Pottinger,  and  intimated  that  he  would  be  satisfied  if 
they  could  procure  from  the  emperor  similar  credentials  for  them¬ 
selves.  Their  refusal  to  comply  with  this  demand  furnished  ad¬ 
ditional  evidence  of  the  fact  that  they  had  not  authority  to  settle 
the  important  questions  pending  between  the  two  governments. 

In  order  to  a  better  appreciation  of  the  peculiar  conditions  un¬ 
der  which  diplomatic  relations  in  China  are  conducted,  a  perusal 
of  the  state  papers  discovered  in  Yeh’s  yamun,  some  of  which 
have  already  appeared  in  the  Blue-Book,  and  which  are  shortly 
to  be  published  in  extenso ,  by  Mr.  Wade,  will  be  found  very  use¬ 
ful  ;  those  bearing  upon  the  visit  of  Sir  John  Bowring  and  Mr. 
Maclane  to  the  Peiho  in  1854,  and  the  circumstances  incidental  to 
it,  were  especially  edifying  and  instructive  to  us,  more  particularly 
as  the  great  bulk  of  the  memorials  were  written  by  Tsung,  the 
associate  of  Tan  in  the  present  commission.  That  functionary 
little  dreamed  that  his  most  secret  and  confidential  opinions  upon 
the  subject  of  the  English  barbarians  were  undergoing  the  closest 
scrutiny  by  those  identical  barbarians,  at  the  period  he  was  com¬ 
municating  with  them  in  tones  as  conciliatory  as  was  consistent 
with  his  hostile  feelings.  Certainly  the  circumstances  under  which 
we  appeared  off  the  Peiho  were  somewhat  different  to  those  under 
which  it  had  been  visited  in  1854.  Then  the  force  was  composed 
of  one  English  and  three  American  vessels,  only  one  of  which  was 
inside  the  bar.  Now  there  were  upward  of  twenty  men-of-war 
in  the  Gulf,  of  which  nine  were  inside  the  bar ;  for  an  American 
steamer,  as  well  as  the  Eussian,  had  taken  up  her  anchorage  in 
the  river.  Then  the  foreign  plenipotentiaries  had  manifested  the 
strongest  desire  to  be  received  in  audience,  and  had  visited  the 
Chinese  commissioners  in  the  tent  erected  on  shore  for  their  ac¬ 
commodation.  Now  these  latter  had  fixed  two  several  days  for 
interviews,  and  expressed  their  anxious  readiness  to  receive  the 
foreign  plenipotentiaries ;  but  their  festive  boards  had  been  spread 
and  their  soldiers  paraded  in  vain ;  instead  of  the  plenipotentia¬ 
ries  they  only  saw  Messrs.  Wade,  Lay,  and  some  of  the  members 
of  the  staff,  and  so  far  forgot  their  dignity,  in  their  anxiety  to 
conciliate,  that  they  entertained  them  officially.  On  the  former 
occasion  Drs.  Medhurst  and  Parker  had  been  received  by  two 
subordinates,  Wan-kien  and  Shwanjin,  whose  memorials  on  the 


INTERCOURSE  ON  THAT  OCCASION.  191 

subject  are  in  the  highest  degree  amusing.  This  was  pending  the 
arrival  of  the  imperial  commissioner  Tsung. 

To  judge  from  their  account  of  the  intractability  of  the  barba¬ 
rians,  they  must  have  undergone  most  trying  experiences  in  their 
endeavors  to  carry  out  the  emperor’s  injunctions  “to  discomfit 
their  (the  barbarians’)  deceit  and  arrogance,  and  foil  their  mali¬ 
cious  sophistry.”  “  There  is  no  fathoming  their  (the  barbarians’) 
minds.”  They  in  one  place  despondingly  remark,  “  Nor  is  it  at 
all  certain  they  are  not  covering  a  mischievous  purpose,  their  real 
object  being  to  find  a  pretext  for  misunderstanding  with  us.” 
Most  determined  are  the  combats  they  seem  to  have  had  with  the 
interpreters.  “To  judge  by  appearances,  Medhurst  is  much  the 
most  crafty,”  they  think ;  but  elsewhere  they  exultingly  exclaim, 
“your  slaves  lectured  them  upon  the  obligations  of  duty.  Med¬ 
hurst  and  Parker  hung  down  their  heads,  having  nothing  to  re¬ 
join,  and  apologized  for  their  error.  They  farther  observed  that, 
as  a  high  officer  was  to  be  at  Tientsin  immediately,  to  look  into 
the  questions  pending,  there  would  now  be  peace  between  us,  and 
(at  this  they  were  so  delighted)  that,  though  they  should  die,  they 
should  not  care.  They  seemed  greatly  ashamed,  and  their  lan¬ 
guage  was  most  respectful.” 

Indeed  considering  how  constantly  Wan-kien  and  his  colleague 
are  “peremptorily  enjoining”  and  “  authoritatively  commanding” 
the  barbarians,  they  seem  to  produce  but  little  effect ;  doubtless 
feeling  the  futility  of  their  efforts,  one  of  them,  after  suggesting 
that  the  governor  general  be  sent  to  inquire  into  the  matter,  winds 
up  in  the  following  modest  manner:  “  The  opinion  that  is  within 
the  range  of  his  stolidity,  your  slave,  in  the  rashness  of  his  igno¬ 
rance,  humbly  declares ;  and,  unequal  to  the  excess  of  his  trepi¬ 
dation,  awaits  your  majesty’s  commands.” 

I  had  not  the  advantage  of  seeing  Tsung,  but  those  of  our  party 
who  were  received  by  that  dignitary  and  Tan  describe  him  as  an 
ill-favored,  suspicious-looking  man,  with  a  squint,  who  maintained 
a  truculent  silence  throughout  the  short  interview.  Perhaps  the 
following  memorial  which  I  have  extracted  from  among  Mr. 
Wade’s  translations  of  the  same  papers,  will  account  for  the  evil 
eye  with  which  he  regarded  us,  while  it  is  interesting,  at  the  same 
time,  as  throwing  much  light  upon  the  motives  and  modes  of  ac¬ 
tion  of  Chinese  officials ;  it  is  supplementary  to  a  long  and  very 
interesting  memorial,  in  which  he  and  his  colleague  describe  their 


192 


MEMORIAL  OF  COMMISSIONERS  IN  1854. 


interviews  with.  Sir  John  Bowring  and  Mr.  Maclane,  their  per¬ 
emptory  refusal  to  listen  to  any  of  their  demands,  and  the  means 
by  which,  in  their  opinion,  they  can  be  induced  to  waive  them. 
“  Farther,  they  say,  your  slaves,  having  received  your  majesty’s 
commands  to  administer  barbarian  business  together,  could  they 
have  so  set  the  right  before  the  barbarians  as  to  prevent  them 
going  back  from  their  engagements,  would  they  have  dared  to 
trouble  your  sacred  majesty  with  farther  matter  of  thought,  by 
the  application  which  they  respectfully  make  for  a  Celestial  de¬ 
cision  ? 

“  The  English  barbarians  are,  however,  full  of  insidious  schemes, 
uncontrollably  fierce  and  imperious.  The  American  nation  does 
no-  more  than  follow  their  direction.  Every  movement  is  the  con¬ 
ception  of  the  English.  A  perusal  of  the  list  of  propositions  pre¬ 
sented  by  them  .shows  that  th,ey  are  in  general  the  views  of  a  sin¬ 
gle  self.  They  consist  neither  with  right  feeling  nor  principle. 
They  have  been  mildly  remonstrated  with,  but  so  crafty  and  slip¬ 
pery  is  their  disposition  that  it  is  hard  to  set  the  right  before 
them. 

“  Your  slaves,  having  duly  taken  counsel  together,  have  re¬ 
solved  to  point  out  to  them  what  articles  in  their  paper  admit  of 
discussion ;  and  for  the  discussion  of  these,  whether  important  or 
otherwise,  to  refer  them  to  one  of  the  five  open  ports.  The  place 
to  which  they  might  prefer  to  proceed  your  slaves  would  report 
to  the  throne ;  high  authorities  in  the  province  in  which  it  lies  re¬ 
ceiving  instructions  from  your  majesty  to  consult  together  and 
make  their  disposition  according  to  the  particulars  of  the  case,  as 
ascertained  by  them  on  investigation,  and  to  oblige  the  barbarians 
to  return  and  abide  the  issue;  to  reject  the  rest  of  their  proposi¬ 
tions,  one  and  all ;  and,  on  receipt  of  your  majesty’s  approval  of 
this  course,  to  write  them  another  letter  for  their  instruction,  and 
return  them  (lit.,  throw  back)  their  paper  of  articles.  Should  they 
be  willfully  perverse  to  take  no  notice  of  it,  but  to  be  more  than 
ever  active  in  preparing  secretly  for  defense,  and  to  wait  spear  in 
hand,  with  the  right  on  our  side  and  the  wrong  on  theirs,  it  does 
not  seem  that  they  can  have  any  thing  to  allege  against  us.  It  is 
the  nature  of  the  Mwan  and  I,*  while  they  dread  the  strong,  to 

*  Note  by  Translator. — The  four  barbarian  races  surrounding  ancient  China  prop¬ 
er  were  the  Mwan,  the  I,  the  Jung,  and  the  Tih.  The  second  is  now  almost  generic 
for  all  races  not  Chinese. 


REFERENCE  TO  PEKIN. 


193 


insult  the  weak.  Without  some  display  of  power,  they  will  not, 
perhaps,  be  deterred  from  their  purpose  of  prying  and  spying  (hh, 
their  heart  of  spying  will  not  be  awed). 

“  It  is  proposed,  in  reply  to  them,  to  show  a  certain  amount  of 
indifference,  thus  to  enhance  the  dignity  of  the  state,  and  annihi¬ 
late  their  treacherous  projects.  The  barbarians  are  in  no  wise  to 
be  informed  that  the  paper  of  propositions  tendered  by  them  has 
been  laid  before  the  throne.  They  were  told,  in  the  first  instance, 
that  it  was  taken  away  to  be  studied  more  carefully ;  that  on  any 
thing  in  it  that  might  be  of  advantage  to  both  sides,  or  in  no  way 
to  the  prejudice  of  either,  your  majesty’s  pleasure  would,  after  due 
deliberation,  be  requested  for  them ;  that  the  remainder  would  be 
negatived,  article  by  article,  as  being,  from  their  offensiveness  and 
impertinence,  harmful  and  impracticable ;  and  that  the  paper 
would  be  returned  to  them  on  the  18th.  The  barbarians  have 
never  been  given  to  understand  that  a  copy  of  it  could  have  been 
submitted  to  your  majesty  for  perusal.  As  in  duty  bound,  they 
add  this  inclosure  to  the  foregoing  details.” 

There  was  no  reason  to  suppose  that  Tsung,  who  adopted  this 
tone  with  reference  to  barbarian  affairs  in  1854,  had  changed  his 
mind  in  the  interval,  more  especially  as  the  policy  he  adopted  on 
that  occasion  was  eminently  successful.  He  got  rid  of  the  barba¬ 
rians,  who  were  not  more  heard  of  until  the  “Arrow  case”  once 
more  roused  “these  troublesome  pests”  into  action. 

Upon  the  above  occasion  the  question  of  powers  did  not  seem 
to  arise,  the  commissioners  untruthfully  alleging  not  only  that 
they  were  unable  to  entertain  the  demands  of  the  barbarians,  but 
even  to  refer  them  to  Pekin.  It  appears,  however,  that  they  were 
so  referred,  and  the  emperor’s  decree  on  the  subject  was  among 
our  papers.  Upon  the  occasion  of  our  visit,  they  evidently  wished 
it  to  be  considered  in  the  light  of  a  concession  that  they  offered  to 
make  reference  to  Pekin ;  but  it  was  clear  that  this  was  a  princi¬ 
ple  totally  inadmissible,  as  being  not  merely  inconsistent  with  the 
dignity  of  the  powers  represented  on  the  occasion,  but  incompati¬ 
ble  with  the  speedy  or  satisfactory  progress  of  negotiations. 

The  practical  inconvenience  of  treating  with  irresponsible  func¬ 
tionaries  is  exemplified  in  a  decree  from  the  Council  of  State  to 
Yeh,  informing  him  of  the  proceedings  of  Sir  John  Bowring  and 
Mr.  Maclane  in  the  north,  in  which  they  say :  “  They  (the  foreign 
plenipotentiaries)  presented  a  number  of  requests ;  more  than  one 

N 


194  ANXIETY  AS  TO  FUTURE  MOVEMENTS. 

of  them  objectionable,  by  reason  of  their  unreasonableness  and  im¬ 
pertinence.  We  confidentially  instructed  Tsung-lun  and  his  col¬ 
leagues  to  disapprove  and  negative  the  whole  of  these,  but  to  write 
a  reply,  promising,  as  it  were  of  their  own  motion,  that  three  of 
the  questions — viz.,  the  misunderstandings  between  the  people 
and  the  barbarians,  the  arrears  of  duties  at  Shanghai,  and  the  tea- 
duties  in  Kwang-tung,  should,  notwithstanding,  be  looked  into  and 
disposed  of.”  This  view  of  the  subject  was  doubtless  founded 
upon  the  opinion  of  Tsung-lun,  as  stated  by  him  in  one  of  his 
Memorials,  in  which  he  says :  “  Their  (the  foreign  plenipotentia¬ 
ries’)  object  (was  to  obtain  consideration  of)  the  arrear  of  duties 
at  Shanghai,  the  surcharge  on  the  tea-duties  at  Canton,  and  trade 
up  the  Yang-tse-Kiang.  The  remaining  articles  were  mere  talk 
(or  lies),  to  produce  an  effect.”  Our  subsequent  silence  upon  the 
subject  for  so  long  a  period  must  have  confirmed  this  opinion, 
while  the  Council  of  State,  commenting  upon  the  indignant  de¬ 
parture  of  the  squadron  from  the  Gulf,  sagaciously  remarks, 
“  They  will  go  back  to  Kwang-tung — their  averment  that  they 
will  return  home  for  instructions  from  their  government  being 
nothing  more  than  another  of  their  fictions.”  Then  follow  in¬ 
structions  to  Yeh,  that,  when  they  get  to  Canton,  he  is  to  be  as 
peremptory  with  them  as  Tsung-lun  was.  Above  all,  that  “  their 
proposition  to  trade  up  the  Yang-tse-Kiang  must  be  peremptorily 
negatived,  nor  must  the  barbarians  be  led  to  suppose  that  the  idea 
was  ever  communicated  to  us.” 

With  the  advantage  which  these  papers  afforded  him  of  an  in¬ 
sight  into  the  character  of  Chinese  diplomacy,  Lord  Elgin  was  nat¬ 
urally  desirous  to  avoid  being  entangled  in  this  labyrinth  of  fi¬ 
nesse  and  word-fencing ;  and  the  delays  in  the  Gulf  were  doubly 
annoying  to  him,  because  they  had  a  tendency  to  involve  him  in 
discussions  of  this  nature. 

Meantime  the  Chinese  were  daily  gaining  confidence;  there 
was  little  doubt  that  they  had  now  made  up  their  minds  to  resist, 
and  every  day’s  delay  was  weakening  our  position  morally.  At 
one  time  it  seemed  probable  that  the  whole  force  would  leave  the 
Gulf  of  Pechelee  without  accomplishing  any  object  whatever.* 
The  time  was  a  most  anxious  one,  for  the  plenipotentiaries  con¬ 
sidered  that  any  such  abandonment  of  the  enterprise  would  tend 

*  The  following  men-of-war  were  at  this  time  anchored  in  the  Gulf : 


MEMORANDUM  OF  SIR  M.  SEYMOUR.  195 

to  increase  the  arrogance  of  the  court  of  Pekin,  and  perhaps  com¬ 
promise  the  safety  of  Europeans  in  other  parts  of  the  empire. 

Finally,  it  was  resolved  that  a  movement  up  the  Peiho,  of  a 
mixed  hostile  and  diplomatic  character,  should  take  place,  as  de¬ 
scribed  in  the  annexed  memorandum  of  Sir  M.  Sevmour,  of  the 
result  of  the  conference  held  on  board  l’Audacieuse  frigate,  18th 
of  May,  1858. 

u  Proposed  by  the  embassadors — 

“  To  take  the  forts,  and,  in  accordance  with  language  held  to 


English. 


Guns. 

Men. 

Calcutta . . 

. 84 

700 

(Anchored  in  Gulf 
1  of  Pechelee. 

Pique . 

. 40 

270 

do. 

Furious,  paddle  steamer . 

.  8 

220 

do. 

Nimrod,  dispatch  government  vessel... 

.  6 

120 

Peiho. 

Cormorant  do . 

.  6 

98 

do. 

Surprise  do . . 

.  6 

98 

Gulf  of  Pechelee. 

Fury . 

.  8 

1G0 

do. 

Slaney,  gun-boat . 

.  5 

48 

Leven,  do . 

.  5 

48 

Bustard,  do . 

.  3 

48 

Opossum . 

.  3 

48 

Stanch . 

.  3 

48 

Firm . 

....  3 

48 

Coromandel,  paddle  steamer . . 

.  5 

44 

Peiho. 

Hesper,  store-ship . 

.  0 

54 

2052 

French. 

Nemesis,  frigate . Gulf  of  Pechelee. 

Audacieuse,  frigate .  do. 

Primanquet,  steam  corvette .  do. 

Durance,  store-ship .  do. 

Meurthe .  do. 

Phlegeton,  steam  corvette .  do. 

Mitraille,  gun-boat .  Peiho. 

Fuse'e,  gun-boat .  do. 

Avalanche,  gun-boat .  do. 

Dragonne . do. 

Renny,  store-steamer . 

American. 

Minnesota,  steam  frigate . Gulf  of  Pechelee. 

Mississippi,  steam  frigate .  do. 

Antelope,  chartered  steamer .  Peiho. 

Russian. 


Amerika,  paddle  steamer 


Peiho. 


196 


COMMUNICATION  WITH  TAN. 


Tan,  the  Chinese  high  commissioner,  to  go  nearer  the  capital  to 
treat ;  to  advance  pacifically  np  the  river  with  a  view  to  meeting 
a  plenipotentiary. 

“It  was  remarked  that  the  ministers  of  Kussia  and  the  United 
States  would  unite  in  this  movement,  after  the  capture  of  the  forts. 

“  I  stated  that  I  was  quite  prepared  to  operate  against  the  forts, 
and  afterward  advance  the  gun-boats  in  aid  of  the  proposed  move¬ 
ments  up  the  river. 

“  The  official  authority  requiring  me  to  act  is  to  be  furnished 
by  Lord  Elgin.”* 

In  keeping  with  this  arrangement,  a  communication  was  ad¬ 
dressed  to  Tan,  in  which  the  embassador  stated  that,  the  various 
delays  accorded  having  expired  without  producing  any  satisfac¬ 
tory  result,  it  had  at  last  become  necessary  for  him,  in  accordance 
with  his  expressed  intention  of  “placing  himself  in  more  immedi¬ 
ate  communication  with  the  high  officers  of  the  imperial  govern¬ 
ment  at  the  capital,”  to  move  “toward”  Tientsin.  “As  a  pre¬ 
liminary  measure,”  his  excellency  goes  on  to  state,  “  it  will  be  req¬ 
uisite  that  the  forts  at  the  mouth  of  the  Peiho  be  placed  in  the 
hands  of  the  commanders-in-chief  of  the  allied  force.  Their  ex¬ 
cellencies  will  signify  the  time  within  which  the  imperial  troops 
will  be  called  on  to  evacuate  these  works.  The  forts  once  in  pos¬ 
session  of  the  allied  force,  the  undersigned  will  ascend  the  river, 
trusting  that  the  imperial  government  will,  without  farther  delay, 
admit  the  expediency  of  appointing  a  duly  qualified  representa-  * 
tive  to  meet  him.” 

On  the  18th  of  May  the  plenipotentiaries  and  admirals  met  in 
conference,  and  it  was  finally  arranged  that  the  above  summons 
should  be  sent  in  on  the  20th ;  and  that  if  the  Chinese  should  de¬ 
cline  accepting  our  offer  of  temporarily  garrisoning  their  forts  for 
them,  force  should  be  employed  to  obtain  possession  of  them. 

So  at  last,  after  five  weeks  of  total  inaction  at  anchor  in  one 
spot,  there  was  some  prospect  of  escape  from  a  situation  which 
was  gradually  becoming  intolerable.  Daring  this  period,  which 
seemed  an  age,  we  had  passed  through  every  variety  of  tempera¬ 
ture  and  every  phase  of  sentiment.  We  had  been  hot  and  hope¬ 
ful,  cold  and  despondent,  shrouded  in  fogs,  beset  with  doubts, 
choked  with  sand  and  disgust,  tempest  and  passion-tossed,  becalm- 

*  Vide  Blue-Book,  page  306. 


INSOLENCE  OF  THE  GARRISON. 


197 


eel  and  torpid.  We  became  wonderfully  expert  at  games  with 
rope  quoits,  and  profoundly  indifferent  to  sublunary  affairs  gen¬ 
erally.  News  of  the  change  of  ministry  at  home,  which  arrived 
about  this  time,  did  not  create  nearly  so  much  sensation  as  a  pres¬ 
ent  of  fresh  fish,  for  we  were  reduced  to  living  on  potted  meats. 

Information  came  from  those  in  the  river  that  the  Chinese  were 
working  harder  than  ever  in  constructing  stockades  and  abattis, 
that  the  camps  were  increasing  in  size,  and  the  soldiers  in  bravado, 
insomuch  that  they  hooted  and  waved  flags  at  us  jeeringly,  won¬ 
dering  why  we  did  not  u  come  on all  this  was  refreshing  to  the 
spirits  of  those  who  had  become  bloodthirsty,  more  especially  the 
officers  of  the  ships  over  the  bar.  The  Nimrod  and  Cormorant 
had  been  quietly  edged  so  close  to  the  forts  that,  considering  their 
escape  was  impossible,  no  other  nation  but  the  Chinese  could  have 
resisted  the  temptation  of  firing  upon  them ;  but  in  vain  did  their 
commanders  watch  for  a  little  puff  of  white  smoke  which  might 
have  enabled  them  to  cut  the  gordian  knot  which  we  in  the  Gulf 
had  been  so  long  endeavoring  to  unravel ;  in  vain  did  parties  of 
sportsmen  look  for  snipe  under  the  very  guns  of  the  batteries; 
the  imperturbable  garrison  contented  themselves  with  waving 
flags,  well  pleased  to  be  allowed  to  play  the  part  of  the  Earl  of 
Chatham  as  long  as  we  should  continue  to  personify  Sir  Richard 
Strachan. 


198 


THE  EYE  OF  THE  ATTACK. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

The  Night  before  the  Attack. — Delivery  of  the  Ultimatum. — The  Signal  of  Attack. 
— Advance  of  the  Cormorant. — The  Nimrod  hotly  engaged. — Chinese  Artillery- 
practice. — The  Batteries  stormed. — “Sauve  qui  peut.” — Terrific  Explosion. — As¬ 
pect  of  the  Fortifications. — Attack  of  the  northern  Forts. — Capture  of  the  last 
Battery. — A  Visit  to  Tan’s  Besidence. — Imperial  Edict. — Fate  of  Tan. — His  Ac¬ 
count  of  the  Action. — Tan’s  Yamun. — A  Poem  “in  Memoriam.” — Return  to  the 
Furious. 

As  if  to  compensate  to  ns  for  all  the  delay  and  discomfort  to 
which  we  had  already  been  subjected  during  our  stay  in  the  Gulf, 
the  climate  for  the  last  few  days  would  have  been  a  credit  to  the 
Mediterranean.  The  sky  was  cloudless,  and  fresh  breezes  from 
the  seaward  had  driven  the  salt  waves  into  the  Gulf,  and  forced 
back  the  muddy  waters  of  the  Peiho,  until  that  river  indulged  in 
the  poetic  license  of  “meandering  level  with  its  font.” 

On  the  19th  I  crossed  the  bar  at  an  early  hour.  The  batteries 
maintained  their  usual  aspect  of  repose.  Here  and  there  groups 
of  soldiers  were  squatted  round  some  big  brass  guns,  or  manda¬ 
rins  of  rank  with  umbrella  and  banner  bearers  went  their  rounds ; 
but  as  the  day  wore  on  they  saw  enough  to  rouse  them  to  vigi¬ 
lance  and  activity.  Six  gun-boats  came  dancing  merrily  over  the 
bar,  each  thronged  with  human  beings,  and  forming  a  centre 
round  which  clustered  a  crowd  of  ships’  boats,  like  chickens  nes¬ 
tling  under  the  maternal  wing.  Spasmodically  puffing  forth 
their  six  jets  of  white  smoke,  they  steadily  approached  the  awe¬ 
struck  garrison,  who,  however,  to  do  them  justice,  manifested  no 
external  signs  of  alarm.  That  even  the  hardy  progeny  of  the 
soldiers  of  Genghis  Khan  should  have  felt  some  degree  of  trepi¬ 
dation  at  witnessing  a  phenomenon  of  this  description  for  the  first 
time  was  natural;  but  not  only  did  they  conceal  their  intimida¬ 
tion,  but  had  the  hardihood  to  send  off  a  message  through  Count 
Poutiatine,  inviting  us  to  “  come  on.”  So  we  came  on,  and  look¬ 
ed  very  pretty  as  we  did  so ;  the  setting  sun  glancing  on  red  coats 
and  waving  flags,  and  shedding  its  warm  bright  glow  upon  the 
devoted  garrison,  so  many  of  whom  were  looking  at  it  for  the  last 


DELIVERY  OF  THE  ULTIMATUM. 


199 


time.  These  latter,  however,  probably  not  much  given  to  senti¬ 
ment  at  any  time,  were  evidently  more  engrossed  with  the  ap¬ 
proaching  foe  than  the  departing  day,  and  seemed  to  suspect  that 
we  were  going  to  attack  the  same  evening.  Officers  moved  brisk¬ 
ly  about  the  batteries  on  horseback ;  the  whole  garrison  stood  to 
their  guns,  and  turned  out  in  a  long  and  imposing  line  upon  the 
glacis ;  but  their  prowess  was  not  yet  destined  to  be  tried.  .  The 
gun-boats  came  to  an  anchor  at  a  long  range  from  the  forts ;  the 
garrison  relapsed  into  quiet  and  security ;  the  waves,  so  lately 
burnished  gold,  became  polished  silver  as  the  rising  moon  tipped 
their  crests,  and  the  hoarse  pant  of  the  steam-engine  was  succeed¬ 
ed  by  the  gruff  chorus  of  the  British  sailor,  who  was  too  much 
excited  by  the  prospect  of  “  thrashing  the  fokees”  on  the  morrow 
to  go  to  sleep  until  he  had  exhausted  his  repertory  of  appropriate 
songs.  At  length  the  last  barbarian  strain  died  faintly  away,  and 
tar  and  Tartar  were  buried  in  profound  repose. 

At  eight  o’clock  on  the  following  morning,  the  English  and 
French  flag-captains,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Lay,  landed  under  a 
flag  of  truce  with  the  ultimatum,  and  an  intimation  that  a  delay 
of  two  hours  would  be  accorded  for  the  exchange  of  garrisons,  as 
required  in  the  ultimatum.  These  gentlemen  were  received  by  a 
petty  mandarin  near  the  blue  tent,  where  a  repast  had  every  day 
been  spread  for  the  entertainment  of  any  such  barbarians  of  distinc¬ 
tion  as  should  honor  the  commissioners  with  a  visit.  To  this  of¬ 
ficial  the  ultimatum  was  handed,  and  the  party  retired.  An  in¬ 
terval  of  two  hours  then  elapsed,  at  the  expiry  of  which,  as  no 
farther  communication  was  received  from  the  forts,  it  was  con¬ 
cluded  that  the  authorities  preferred  their  own  garrison  to  the  one 
proposed  as  a  substitute,  and  had  determined  to  abide  by  the  con¬ 
sequences.  At  ten  o’clock,  therefore,  the  signal  was  hoisted  for 
the  ships  to  take  up  their  respective  positions. 

The  Cormorant,  Mitraille,  and  Fusee  had  been  told  off  to  the 
attack  of  the  two  forts  on  the  northern  side,  while  the  three  forts 
on  the  southern  bank,  with  their  long  connecting-line  of  sand-bag 
batteries,  fell  to  the  share  of  the  Nimrod,  Avalanche,  and  Dra¬ 
gon  ne.  This  apparently  unequal  distribution  of  French  and  En¬ 
glish  gun-boats,  by  which  the  former  appeared  to  have  monopo¬ 
lized  an  undue  share  in  the  operations  was  rendered  necessary 
by  the  inefficiency  of  the  French  gun-boats  for  perfoming  sundry 
functions  for  which  our  smaller  class  of  gun-boats  are  alone  adapt- 


200  SIGNAL  OF  ATTACK.— ADVANCE  OF  THE  CORMORANT. 

ed,  and  which  we  were  compelled  to  do  for  them.  Thus  the  Le- 
ven  and  Opossum  were  told  off  for  French  service  throughout 
the  day,  and  towed  in  their  landing-parties.  During  the  subse¬ 
quent  period  of  our  residence  at  Tientsin  our  gun-boats  were  con¬ 
stantly  employed  on  the  French  account,  bringing  up  provisions, 
supplies,  etc.,  and  performing  the  entire  river  service  for  both 
squadrons. 

To  return  to  the  signal  of  attack.  Cameron  and  I  had  taken 
up  our  position  for  viewing  the  operations  of  the  day  on  board 
the  Nimrod.  For  a  few  moments  before  this  signal  was  hoisted 
the  river  presented  a  most  animated  appearance.  The  advanced 
ship  up  the  river  was  the  Cormorant,  letting  off  impatient  puffs 
of  steam,  as  she  waited  like  a  greyhound  till  the  leash  should  be 
slipped,  and  she  should  be  started  to  burst  through  the  bamboo 
barrier  which  was  stretched  across  the  river,  and  run  the  gauntlet 
of  the  fire  of  forts  to  which  she  would  be  exposed  before  reach¬ 
ing  her  position.  Immediately  behind  her  lay  the  Nimrod,  her 
decks  cleared  for  action,  the  men  at  their  guns,  and  every  soul 
eagerly  longing  for  the  welcome  order.  Some  distance  astern  of 
her  were  our  own  gun-boats,  surrounded  by  their  small  fry,  crowd¬ 
ed  with  men,  and  the  four  large  French  gun-boats. 

The  signal  flag  had  hardly  reached  the  truck  of  the  Slaney 
when  the  Cormorant  darted  off  like  an  arrow ;  as  her  men  were 
all  lying  flat  on  the  deck,  not  a  soul  but  her  commander  and  two 
or  three  officers  was  to  be  seen  on  board.  A  moment  had  scarce¬ 
ly  elapsed  before  Captain  Saumarez  had  reason  to  congratulate 
himself  on  the  wisdom  of  his  precaution — puff,  and  a  cloud  of 
smoke  like  that  of  an  exploded  mine  was  followed  by  the  whistle 
of  a  round-shot,  then  another,  and  another,  till  all  three  forts  had 
opened  on  her  in  full  chorus.  But  the  Cormorant  disdained  re¬ 
ply  ;  suddenly  there  was  a  shock,  a  tremor,  and  a  start  ahead — 
she  had  burst  the  barrier,  composed  of  five  seven-inch  bamboo 
cables  buoyed  across  the  river.  In  a  moment  more  she  was  in 
position,  and,  giving  the  batteries  on  the  southern  bank  one  gun 
by  way  of  a  recognition  of  the  compliment  they  had  paid  her, 
she  concentrated  her  tremendous  fire  on  the  northern  forts,  which 
were  completely  silenced  in  about  eighteen  minutes,  at  the  expiry 
of  which  term  the  Fusee  and  Mitraille  came  up,  too  late,  however, 
to  participate  in  the  bombardment. 

Meantime  the  Nimrod  had  been  no  less  alert,  and,  being  al- 


THE  NIMROD  HOTLY  ENGAGED. 


201 


ready  almost  in  position,  opened  incontinently  a  telling  fire  on 
the  southern  forts,  thus  diverting  their  attention  from  the  Cormo¬ 
rant,  and  attracting  their  concentrated  fire  on  herself.  For  about 
a  quarter  of  an  hour  we  held  the  distinguished  post  of  engaging 
single-handed  the  whole  three  forts.  Presently,  however,  the  four 
French  gun-boats,  two  of  them  on  their  way  to  support  the  Cor¬ 
morant,  and  the  other  two  (Avalanche  and  Dragonne)  our  sup¬ 
ports,  came  slowly  up ;  the  strong  tide  and  the  narrow  river  con¬ 
siderably  embarrassed  the  movements  of  these  craft,  which  were 
of  unwieldy  construction  and  insufficient  steam-power.  How¬ 
ever,  when  the  Avalanche  and  Dragonne  did  get  into  position, 
just  ahead  of  us,  they  did  their  work  well,  and  for  the  next  half 
hour  we  all  three  hammered  away  at  the  forts  with  great  good¬ 
will  and  pertinacity,  the  Tartars  standing  to  their  guns  better 
than  we  anticipated.  The  shot  for  the  most  part  passed  over  us, 
some  of  them  flying  as  high  as  the  top-gallant  cross-tree.  One 
went  through  the  topsail  yard,  and  we  saw  them  bobbing  in  all 
directions  into  the  river  beyond  us.  The  French  gun-boats  had 
poops ;  to  this  may  no  doubt  be  attributed  the  mortality  among 
the  officers ;  they  lost  no  less  than  four  killed,  and  only  two  men, 
if  we  exclude  those  killed  afterward  by  an  explosion. 

The  Nimrod  was  hulled  in  half  a  dozen  places,  but  we  had 
only  one  man  killed  and  three  wounded.  The  gingall  fire  was 
more  telling  than  that  of  their  large  guns.  The  construction  of  a 
Chinese  battery  renders  it  a  somewhat  difficult  matter  to  silence 
them  effectually.  Behind  the  gun  is  a  bomb-proof  chamber,  con¬ 
taining  the  ammunition,  and  to  which  the  men  run  for  shelter. 
After  the  gun  is  discharged  the  gunners  disappear  into  this  re¬ 
treat,  and  remain  there  until  the  enemy,  having  given  the  bat¬ 
tery  a  benefit  of  shot  and  shell  without  reply,  conclude  it  to  be  si¬ 
lenced  ;  then  the  gunners  stealthily  emerge,  and  try,  if  possible, 
to  load  and  fire  the  gun  without  being  perceived,  rushing  back  to 
their  hiding-place  immediately  afterward.  Of  course,  upon  this 
system  the  firing  can  never  be  very  rapid,  but  there  is  no  reason 
why  it  should  not  last  forever,  unless  the  gun  is  disabled ;  to  pre¬ 
vent  this,  they  generally  run  it  behind  the  solid  earthwork  after 
it  is  fired.  By  minute  investigation  with  an  opera-glass,  we  could 
often  detect  the  gunners  popping  like  rabbits  out  of  a  warren 
from  the  chamber  into  the  battery,  and  then  a  shell,  judiciously 
dropped  among  them,  would  shut  up  the  gun  for  a  quarter  of  an 


202 


THE  BATTERIES  STORMED. 


hour.  As,  however,  there  were  140  guns  altogether  in  position, 
a  good  deal  of  firing  went  on  notwithstanding. 

A  little  before  eleven,  the  admirals,  followed  by  their  fleet  of 
gun-boats,  passed  up  the  river,  receiving  on  their  way  a  good 
many  stray  shots  that  passed  over  us.  As  the  interest  was  now 
to  be  transferred  to  their  operations,  I  went  up  with  my  compan¬ 
ion  to  the  main-top  of  the  Nimrod,  from  whence  we  obtained  a 
magnificent  bird’s-eye  view  of  the  scene.  The  batteries,  with 
their  active  garrisons,  lay  immediately  at  our  feet.  We  could  see 
the  gunners  running  in  and  out  of  their  chambers,  and  working 
away  like  ants ;  and  in  the  plain  behind,  a  large  crowd,  probably 
a  force  in  reserve,  who,  to  their  intense  amazement,  were  favored 
with  a  shell  or  two  immediately  on  our  informing  Captain  Dew 
of  their  position  and  direction. 

As  the  storming-parties  landed  within  800  yards  of  us,  we  could, 
from  our  elevated  position,  inspect  their  proceedings  with  great 
minuteness.  The  attention  of  the  fort  being  concentrated  upon 
the  gun-boats  in  front  of  them,  the  garrison  seemed  unconscious 
of  the  fact  that  some  hundreds  of  “  barbarians  ”  were  landing  just 
above  them.  Not  knowing  that  our  practice  was  to  take  batteries 
by  assault,  they  were  evidently  taken  completely  by  surprise ; 
and  as  but  a  few  yards  of  mud  were  to  be  traversed  at  that  time 
of  tide,  the  men  were  in  the  embrasures  at  once.  In  the  late  un¬ 
fortunate  attack,  the  distance  of  mud  to  be  crossed  was  much 
greater,  and  the  garrison  doubtless  fully  expected  that  we  should 
land  and  storm  as  we  had  done  before,  and  were  prepared  accord¬ 
ingly.  We  saw  the  leading  blue-jacket  jump  into  the  battery ;  an 
instantaneous  panic  spread  itself  like  lightning  along  the  line  of 
batteries  at  our  feet;  and  in  the  “ sauve  qui  peut”  which  follow¬ 
ed,  some  amusing  scenes  occurred,  as  Jack,  at  the  top  of  his  speed, 
dodged  and  chased  the  terrified  soldiers,  who,  with  outstretched 
arms  and  nimble  legs,  scattered  in  every  direction.  Here  and 
there,  one  more  courageous  than  his  fellows  would  attempt  to 
make  a  stand,  or  apparently  disbelieve  the  report  of  a  flying  Tar¬ 
tar,  who  pointed  to  the  rear  and  sped  on  with  redoubled  speed  ; 
but  no  sooner  did  the  flash  of  the  cutlass  glance  before  his  eye, 
than  the  bravest  of  them  lost  heart,  and  in  ten  minutes  the  whole 
garrison,  together  with  the  body  in  reserve,  were  scattered  far  and 
wide  over  the  plain.  Those  who  had  a  good  start  could  afford  to 
save  their  dignity,  and  walk  composedly  away  ;  but  the  stragglers 


Capture  of  the  Peiho  Forts, 


Reception-tent  of  the  Imperial  Commissioners,  Takoo. 


TERRIFIC  EXPLOSION. 


207 


in  rear  fled  as  though  demons  were  on  their  track,  and  for  the  most 
part  fairly  outran  our  gallant  tars,  whose  wind  was  soon  expend¬ 
ed,  and  who  were  obliged  at  last  to  content  themselves  with  stray 
shots  at  their  light-heeled  foe.  After  a  race  of  this  description 
their  aim  was  somewhat  wild,  and  I  saw  a  marine  aim  with  great 
deliberation  at  a  man  whom  he  had  almost  succeeded  in  running 
down,  at  a  distance  of  about  five  yards,  and  miss  him. 

We  now  lost  no  time  in  landing  ourselves,  and  were  soon  ex¬ 
ploring  the  batteries  and  the  plain  behind.  We  met  the  marines 
and  blue-jackets  coming  back  from  their  chase,  and  the  few  corpses 
I  observed  on  the  field  and  in  the  batteries  confirmed  me  in  the 
impression  that  the  Chinese  loss  had  been  comparatively  trifling, 
probably  not  above  200  in  all,  including  those  killed  on  the  north 
bank.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that,  if  it  had  been  desired,  we 
might,  by  sending  a  force  round  to  the  village  of  Takoo,  have  cut 
off  their  retreat,  and  caught  the  whole  garrison  in  a  trap  from 
which  they  could  not  possibly  have  escaped. 

We  were  the  first  to  make  an  inroad  upon  the  oranges  and 
pomegranates  which  formed  part  of  the  repast  spread  out  for  our 
(pacific)  entertainment  in  the  blue  tent,  through  the  canvas  of 
which  two  or  three  round-shot  had  let  in  daylight.  Then  we 
proceeded  to  pull  down  the  Chinese  banners,  and  demolishing- 
parties  were  set  to  work  to  upset  the  guns  and  dismantle  the  for¬ 
tifications.  We  found  them  to  be  more  solidly  constructed  than 
we  had  supposed,  the  three  forts  being  composed  of  square  blocks 
of  stone  masonry,  the  sea  front  faced  with  earth ;  they  were  about 
twelve  feet  in  height,  and  ascended  from  the  rear  by  a  broad  flight 
of  stone  steps. 

While  standing  near  the  base  of  one  of  these,  which  we  had  just 
been  investigating,  and  which  was  now  filled  with  Frenchmen,  we 
were  startled  by  an  explosion  so  close  as  to  make  us  involuntarily 
retreat  some  yards,  and  inexpressibly  shocked  by  the  sight  which 
met  our  eyes.  A  crowd  of  French  sailors  rushed  wounded  and 
panic-stricken  out  of  the  falling  buildings ;  some  of  them,  tortured 
beyond  endurance  by  the  horrible  agony,  threw  themselves  head¬ 
long  over  the  glacis  into  the  ditch  at  the  base.  One  of  these 
wretched  sufferers  I  observed  scramble  out  upon  the  opposite 
bank  after  rolling  in  the  muddy  pool,  and,  though  blackened  to  a 
degree  which  gave  him  more  the  appearance  of  a  cinder  than  a 
man,  shout  with  characteristic  vivacity,  “Vive  TEmpereur!  Vive 


208 


ASPECT  OF  THE  FORTIFICATIONS. 


la  France  !”  as  he  feebly  waved  his  cap  over  his  head.  But  those 
who  first  rushed  out  were  only  the  less  injured;  the  severely 
wounded  were  now  being  carried  down  from  the  fort  by  their 
comrades,  and  the  objects  were  so  painfully  disfigured,  and,  as 
they  writhed  and  groaned  with  agony,  presented  so  heart-rending 
an  appearance,  that,  as  we  were  only  in  the  way,  we  hurried  from 
the  spot ;  nor  could  I  banish  the  scene  from  my  memory  for  some 
time  afterward.  The  French  admiral  was  close  by  as  this  tragical 
event  happened,  and  every  assistance  was  instantly  rendered  to  the 
sufferers,  in  spite  of  which,  out  of  about  forty  who  were  more  or 
less  severely  injured,  the  majority  never  recovered. 

This  incident  cooled  the  ardor  of  our  investigations  into  the  for¬ 
tifications.  We  had  indeed  been  over  the  entire  length  of  the 
works,  and  were  amazed  at  the  calibre  and  exquisite  finish  of 
some  of  the  brass  guns.  The  sand-bag  battery  which  connected 
the  forts  had  been  well  constructed,  and  had  afforded  sufficient 
shelter  to  enable  the  gunners  to  annoy  us  considerably.  Num¬ 
bers  of  beautifully-made  rockets  were  piled  up  in  different  direc¬ 
tions,  and  bags  of  powder  lay  scattered  about.  Some  good  canis¬ 
ter-shot  was  lying  about,  as  well  as  hollow  8-inch.  There  were 
also  several  English  guns  in  the  batteries.  A  battery  of  200  gin- 
galls,  all  laid  close  together  in  line,  each  about  ten  feet  long,  and 
carrying  a  pound  ball,  looked  like  a  gigantic  “infernal  machine,'’ 
and,  properly  worked,  makes  doubtless  a  formidable  defense. 
Camps  were  situated  behind  the  forts,  and  looting-parties  rum¬ 
maging  out  the  tents  for  swords,  etc.,  etc.,  every  now  and  then 
unearthed  a  Chinaman.  One  of  our  own  men,  who  had  foolishly 
dressed  himself  in  some  of  the  clothes  he  had  discovered,  was  un¬ 
happily  shot  by  mistake  for  one  of  the  enemy. 

As  it  was  not  yet  midday,  and  we  still  heard  firing  round  the 
bend  of  the  river,  we  were  anxious  to  push  up,  if  possible,  to  Ta- 
koo,  and  were  glad  to  take  advantage  of  the  gun-boat  Firm,  which 
was  dispatched  to  the  front  for  the  purpose  of  collecting  wounded. 
On  our  way  we  observed  some  stranded  fire-rafts,  which  were  still 
burning,  having  been  towed  on  shore.  An  attempt  had  also  been 
made  to  send  down  some  lighted  junks,  filled  with  straw,  which 
fortunately  proved  abortive. 

As  we  passed  the  northern  forts,  and  saw  the  flanking  fire  to 
which  they  had  been  exposed  from  the  Cormorant’s  heavy  guns, 
we  did  not  wonder  at  the  rapidity  with  which  they  were  evacu- 


CAPTURE  OF  THE  LAST  BATTERY. 


209 


ated — our  landing-parties,  under  Captains  Sir  Frederick  Nicolson, 
Sherard  Osborn,  and  Commander  Cresswell,  together  with  the 
French  landing-party,  having  entered  them  without  opposition. 
After  the  usual  amount  of  tricolors,*  etc.,  had  been  stuck  up,  the 
Erench  crossed  over  to  the  left  bank,  and  the  men  of  the  Pique, 
Furious,  and  Surprise  followed  the  garrison  of  the  forts,  who  were 
in  full  retreat  upon  two  intrenched  camps,  one  of  which  contained 
the  cavalry  force  already  alluded  to.  These  camps  were  situated 
close  to  the  river,  and  were  protected  in  that  direction  by  a  for¬ 
midable  battery,  which  commanded  the  entire  length  of  the  reach. 
The  shore-party,  advancing  over  a  flat  salt  plain,  were  covered  on 
their  left  flank  by  the  Bustard,  Opossum,  and  Stanch,  which  were 
exposed  to  the  whole  fire  of  the  battery  as  they  advanced  up  the 
reach.  A  sharp  engagement  followed  between  these  three  little 
gun-boats  and  the  battery,  in  which  they  lost  two  killed  and  five 
wounded ;  but  upon  the  landing-party  coming  up  at  the  double, 
and  taking  them  in  flank,  the  panic  usual  in  such  cases  was  fol¬ 
lowed  by  an  utter  rout,  and  the  assailants,  whose  attention  was 
particularly  directed  to  the  flying  cavalry,  only  succeeded  in 
knocking  over  a  few  of  them  as  they  fled  across  the  open. 

This  episode  had  just  terminated  when  we  arrived.  Each  camp 
contained  about  twenty-five  field-pieces,  6-pounders,  four  heavy 
brass  guns  throwing  68-pound  shot,  and  a  dozen  iron  guns  of  a 
new  construction,  on  capital  carriages,  throwing  an  18-pound  ball. 
There  was  computed  to  have  been  about  a  thousand  men  in  each 
battery,  with  abundance  of  admirable  gingalls.  We  now  moved 
up  to  Takoo,  where  a  barrier  of  junks  moored  right  across  the 
river,  debarred  our  farther  progress.  A  battery  of  eighteen  field- 
pieces,  which  was  deserted  as  we  approached,  flanked  this  barrier, 
and  so  we  immediately  landed  and  took  possession  of  it.  Just  be¬ 
hind  this  battery  was  the  village  of  Takoo,  the  houses  of  one  story, 
built  of  mud,  and  divided  by  narrow  streets,  and  in  every  respect 
similar  to  a  fellah  village  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile.  A  crowd  of 
people  had  collected  about  fifty  yards  distant,  conscious,  apparent¬ 
ly,  that  we  should  not  mistake  them  for  soldiers,  and  watched  our 
proceedings  with  great  coolness  and  interest. 

We  were  enabled  to  communicate  with  them  through  Mr. 
Wade,  who  now  arrived,  together  with  some  others  of  our  party. 
In  answer  to  our  inquiry,  they  informed  us  that  the  joss-house  in 
the  neighborhood  had  been  the  residence  of  the  Imperial  Commis- 

0 


210 


IMPERIAL  EDICT. 


sioner  Tan,  so  we  immediately  decided  on  payipg  it  a  visit.  We 
were  accompanied  by  several  villagers,  who  appeared  so  perfectly 
friendly  that  three  or  four  blue-jackets  formed  our  only  escort. 
On  our  way  we  found  the  headless  trunk  of  a  man  lying  across 
the  path,  who,  the  villagers  informed  us,  had  been  beheaded  in  the 
morning  for  running  away.  We  soon  broke  open  the  doors  of 
the  joss-house,  proved  to  be  the  Hai-chin-Miao,  or  Temple  of  the 
Sea-God  (the  same  at  which  Lord  Macartney  visited  the  Govern¬ 
or  of  the  province),  and  were  received  by  some  priests,  who  not 
unnaturally  betrayed  a  little  nervous  agitation.  We  assured 
them  we  only  wished  to  ransack  Tan’s  private  room  for  papers. 
We  discovered  none,  however,  of  any  importance ;  though,  from 
the  confusion  in  which  we  found  his  apartments,  he  had  evi¬ 
dently  left  in  a  hurry.  A  mandarin  officer  of  some  importance, 
who  had  committed  suicide  by  cutting  his  throat,  was  also  found 
in  the  house.  We  afterward  discovered  that  this  was  Tehkwei, 
the  acting  commandant  at  the  defense  of  the  forts.  The  follow¬ 
ing  extract  from  the  Pekin  Gazette ,  showing  how  the  government 
of  China  deal  with  their  officers  who  are  guilty  of  failure,  will 
prove  that  this  unhappy  mandarin  only  anticipated  his  destiny  by 
a  few  months : 

“  The  Prince  of  Hwui  and  others  have,  in  concert  with  the 
Board  of  Punishments,  presented  a  memorial  setting  forth  the 
penalties  they  find  the  laws  to  award  to  the  different  officers 
whom  we  had  directed  them  to  try  for  the  loss  of  the  port  of  Tien- 
tsing.  The  following  officers  already  degraded — namely,  Chang 
Tien-yuen,  commander-in-chief  of  the  Chinese  army  of  Chih-li, 
Tanien,  acting  as  general-in-command  of  the  Tien-tsing  division  of' 
the  same,  and  Tehkwei,  acting  commandant  of  Takoo,  had  been 
directed  by  T‘an  Ting-siang  to  occupy  and  defend  the  forts  at  Ta¬ 
koo,  on  the  north  and  south  banks  of  the  river;  Fulehtunt‘ai, 
lieutenant  general  of  Bannermen,  had  encamped  at  Chung-pau,  in 
rear  and  in  support  of  Chang  Tien-yuen  and  the  rest.  When  the 
barbarians  opened  fire  they  made  every  effort  to  keep  them  off, 
striking  and  wounding  four  barbarian  ships,  and  killing  several 
barbarian  soldiers;  notwithstanding  which,  all  the  forts  and  all 
the  guns  were  taken.  Certainly,  their  offense  is  without  excuse ! 
Let  Fulehtunt‘ai,  Chang  Tien-yuen,  and  Tanien,  who,  according  to 
the  award,  should  properly  be  decapitated,  be  imprisoned  until 
after  the  autumn,  and  then  put  to  death.” 


FATE  OF  TAN. 


211 

As  our  intercourse  with  Tan  terminated  shortly  after,  in  a  note 
from  that  fuctionary  announcing  the  appointment  of  his  successors, 
we  may  not  inappropriately  take  leave  of  him,  now  that  we  have 
completed  the  search  of  his  premises.  In  the  same  Pekin  Gazette 
we  find  the  following  punishment  awarded  to  him:  “  T‘an  Ting- 
siang,  already  degraded  from  the  office  of  Governor  General  of 
Chih-li,  has  been  found  not  guilty  of  cowardice  and  desertion; 
but,  in  that  his  operations  were  without  plan  or  resource,  his  of¬ 
fense  is  no  less  without  excuse.  Let  him  be  banished  to  the 
frontier,*  there  to  redeem  his  guilt  by  his  exertions.” 

Poor  Tan  was  the  victim  of  circumstances  over  which  he  cer¬ 
tainly  had  no  control,  and  it  seems  hard  that  his  government 
should  refuse  him  full  powers  in  the  first  instance,  and  then  pun¬ 
ish  him  for  the  inevitable  consequence  of  his  being  without  them. 

The  tendency  of  which  our  own  government  has  been  accused 
— of  rewarding  incapacity — renders  its  service  sufficiently  dis¬ 
couraging  to  meritorious  officers ;  but  even  it  must  be  preferable 
to  one  which  unrelentingly  visits  misfortune  with  disgrace. 

Although  we  did  not  find  any  papers  of  political  importance  in 
the  residence  of  Tan,  the  following  account  of  the  memorial  he 
addressed  to  the  emperor  on  the  loss  of  Takoo,  if  true,  furnishes 
an  amusing  illustration  of  the  desperate  falsehoods  to  which  his 
unhappy  servants  are  compelled  to  resort  in  hope  of  averting  the 
imperial  displeasure.  The  subjoined  letter  was  received  by  Mr. 
Lay,  on  his  arrival  at  Tientsin,  from  a  Chinese  correspondent  in 
the  city,  who  doubtless  hoped  to  curry  favor  with  the  barbarians 
by  sending  them  information ;  it  must  therefore  be  taken  cum 
grano : 

“  Tan  tells  the  emperor  in  his  memorial  respecting  the  loss  of 
Takoo  that  he  gained  a  great  victory  the  day  before”  (by  the  day 
before  is  meant  the  20th,  or  day  of  the  capture),  “  and  destroyed 
several  barbarian  ships.  That  the  capture  of  the  forts  was  attrib¬ 
utable  to  a  circumstance  which  it  was  not  in  his  power  to  control. 
An  unusually  high  tide  on  the  day  in  question,  and  a  sudden  rush 
of  water  from  the  Gulf,  swept  away  the  southeast  battery,  and  any 
defense  of  the  place  was  rendered  impossible.  Long  before  your 
admiral  reached  Tientsin,  Tan  had  fled,  and  with  him  every  soldier 
and  brave.  The  magistrate  is  the  only  one  who  remained  in  the 
city.  Before  the  fight  at  Takoo  the  emperor  issued  two  edicts  to 

*  The  confines  of  Siberia,  on  the  far  west  of  the  Chinese  dominions. 


212 


TAN’S  YAMUN. 


% 

Tan,  desiring  him  to  accede  to  your  demands  so  far  as  ports  were 
concerned.  Tan,  however,  did  not  dare  to  show  these  edicts,  be¬ 
cause  they  contained  the  word  ‘barbarian,’  and  he  was  afraid  that 
the  sight  of  the  objectionable  expression  would  only  incense  you. 
He  therefore  determined  upon  risking  a  trial  of  strength.  The 
emperor  is  going  to  appoint  Toh-mingah  to  treat  with  you.  He 
does  not  appoint  Sang-ko-lin-sin,  because  of  his  warlike  disposi¬ 
tion.  Our  high  officers  dread  a  personal  meeting  with  your  em¬ 
bassadors  ;  they  think  they  would  be  made  prisoners,  as  was  Yeh.5’ 

Such,  according  to  popular  gossip,  was  Tan’s  mode  of  account¬ 
ing  for  his  defeat  at  Takoo.  It  is  highly  probable  that  the  impe¬ 
rial  edicts  above  spoken  of  actually  did  exist,  although  Tan  had 
evidently  had  time  to  carry  off  all  his  political  documents.  A 


The  “  Temple  of  the  Sea-God”  (Residence  of  Tan  at  Takoo). 


poem,  however — translated,  I  believe,  by  one  of  the  gentlemen  at¬ 
tached  to  the  American  legation — was  afterward  discovered,  which 
rouses  our  sympathies  in  behalf  of  the  unhappy  mandarin,  and 
which  I  have  thought  worthy  of  insertion  for  the  benefit  of  those 
who  deny  the  existence  in  the  Chinese  bosom  of  the  sentiment  of 
domestic  affection : 


A  POEM  “IN  MEMORIAM.”— RETURN  TO  THE  FURIOUS.  218 


Translation  of  a  Poem  in  Memoriam  of  Tan’s  wife.  Found  in  his  room  at  Takoo. 
(The  characters  of  black  velvet,  each  on  the  representation  of  a  Chinese  fruit. 
In  couplets  of  four  characters  each.) 

Right  hand. 

“In  the  Me* * * §  bowered  window  the  spring  is  mild.” 

Left  hand. 

“  In  the  lanf  bordered  pathway  the  breezes  are  fragrant.” 

[The  following  twe-lien,  or  scrolls,  on  blue  and  white  silk,  are  funeral  tributes  to 
the  virtues  of  a  distinguished  lady,  presented  by  mourning  relatives  ;  blue  and 
white  being  the  appropriate  colors  of  mourning.] 

“Combining  the  qualities  of  Tan  and  Ki,J  the  Vermilion  Pencil  has  honored  her 
with  a  title. 

Uniting  the  graces  of  Ha  and  Chang,  the  Scarlet  Tube§  has  published  her  excel¬ 
lence. 

Possessing  high  rank  of  imperial  bestowment,  favor  rested  on  her  door-posts,  and 
abundant  grace  upon  her  household.  ^ 

Decorated  with  an  imperial  distinction,  her  virtues  were  published  through  her  native 
district,  and  diffused  the  reputation  of  her  worth. 

With  a  stimulant  made  of  bears’  gall  exciting  the  studies  (of  her  son),  her  excellent 
example  is  worthy  of  imitation. 

Clad  in  ivory-adorned  vestments,  she  has  gone  to  worship  the  True  (one) ;  and  her 
benevolent  countenance,  where  shall  we  look  for  it  ? 

Having  taught  her  son  to  respect  her  example  and  hold  fast  the  classics,  she  saw 
him  pluck  with  his  own  hand  the  sprig  of  the  que-hwa.  || 

Having  aided  her  husband  to  display  his  virtues,  her  gentle  influence  flowed  over  her 
kindred,  and  she  long  commanded  the  hearts  of  her  relations.” 


Our  search  was  soon  concluded,  and  as  the  day  was  now  ad¬ 
vanced,  and  the  enemy  had  become  invisible,  we  thought  it  time 
to  return  to  the  Furious. 

In  the  evening  the  second  division  moved  up,  embarked  in  our 
own  gun-boats,  supported  by  Captain  Dew  (of  the  Mmrod),  to  the 
line  of  junks  moored  abreast  of  the  Takoo  joss-house. 

*  Me  (pronounced  may )  is  the  name  of  a  kind  of  plum  indigenous  to  China. 

f  Lan  is  the  designation  of  a  bulbous  flowering  plant  of  ravishing  sweetness.  It  is 
the  Aglaia  odorata  of  botanists. 

J  Tan  and  Ki  were  women  famed  for  their  virtues.  Ha  and  Chang  were  ladies 
celebrated  for  their  accomplishments. 

§  Vermilion'Pencil  and  Scarlet  Tube  are  identical  figures  denoting  the  emperor. 

||  The  que-hwa,  or  que  flower,  is  the  Olea  fragrans ,  the  blossom  of  which  yields  a 
rich  perfume.  This  plant  is  accepted  as  the  emblem  of  the  degree  Ivin-jin,  equiva¬ 
lent  to  our  M.A. ;  and  plucking  a  sprig  of  the  que-hwa  is,  therefore,  equivalent  to  at¬ 
taining  his  second  literary  degree. 


214 


ASPECT  OF  THE  NORTH  FORT. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Ascent  of  the  River. — A  Crowd  of  Junks. — Astonishment  of  Population. — Their  sub¬ 
missive  Behavior. — Brilliant  Bonfires. — A  Steppe  Country. — Appearance  of  the 
Villages. — Difficulties  of  Navigation. — First  View  of  Tientsin. — A  Deputation  of 
Merchants. — Appointment  of  imperial  Commissioners. — The  Plenipotentiaries  as¬ 
cend  the  Peiho. — Approach  to  Tientsin. — Dense  Crowds. — “The  Temple  of  Su¬ 
preme  Felicity.” — View  of  the  River. — Making  ourselves  comfortable. — Bedrooms 
in  the  Temple. — Farther  Exploration  of  the  Peiho. — Arrival  of  Russian  and  Amer¬ 
ican  Ministers. — Their  Abodes. — Pean. — Arrival  of  the  imperial  Commissioners. 
— Full  Powers  at  last. — Our  official  Procession. — “The  Temple  of  the  Oceanic- 
Influences.” — Interview  with  the  Commissioners. — Exchange  of  full  Powers. — 
Abrupt  Termination  of  the  Interview. — Arrival  of  the  Kwang-Fang. — Kweiliang. 
Hwashana. — Success  of  Lord  Elgin’s  Policy. — Its  Bearing  on  Affairs  at  Canton. 
— Brighter  Prospects. 

The  day  following  the  capture  of  the  forts  was  devoted  to  re¬ 
pose  after  our  exertions.  On  the  22d,  however,  a  report  reached 
our  distant  anchorage,  to  which  I  had  returned,  that  the  allied  ad¬ 
mirals  had  decided  on  moving  up  the  river.  It  had  originally 
been  arranged  that  they  should  be  accompanied  in  the  first  in¬ 
stance  by  the  plenipotentiaries ;  but,  as  it  was  now  understood 
that  the  presence  of  the  representatives  of  all  four  powers — two 
of  whom  were  neutrals — might  rather  prove  an  encumbrance  than 
otherwise,  Lord  Elgin  expressed  his  readiness  to  await  the  admi¬ 
rals’  pleasure  on  the  subject,  anxious  to  avoid  any  act  which 
might  embarrass  the  naval  authorities  in  the  unlikely  event  of 
their  being  induced,  by  a  very  active  opposition,  to  exchange 
their  pacific  for  a  warlike  attitude.  I  was,  however,  permitted  to 
accompany  the  force  upon  this  occasion,  and  found  quarters  on 
board  the  Opossum,  with  my  old  friend  Commander  Colin  Camp¬ 
bell. 

On  my  way  I  landed  at  the  North  Fort  to  inspect  a  gigantic 
brass  gun  captured  by  the  Cormorant,  and  also  to  explore  the 
scene  of  desolation  for  which  her  guns  were  responsible.  These 
forts  were  even  more  substantially  constructed  than  those  on  the 
south  side,  but  upon  no  known  principle  of  fortification.  The 
consequence  was  a  terrible  slaughter  to  the  exposed  garrison, 
twenty-nine  of  whom  had  been  counted  lying  round  their  guns  in 


A  CROWD  OF  JUNKS. 


215 


one  battery.  The  commandant  of  the  fort  had  not  yet  been  bur¬ 
ied,  and  was  lying  at  the  door  of  his  room,  a  round-shot  haying 
struck  him  just  as  he  was  emerging  from  it.  Every  building  was 
riddled,  and  shells,  entering  from  the  exposed  rear,  had  burst  in¬ 
side  the  bomb-proof  chambers,  so  that  the  garrison  was  little  to 
be  blamed  for  only  waiting  a  quarter  of  an  hour  in  so  warm  a  lo¬ 
cality.  The  Cormorant  moved  up,  the  next  morning,  to  the  bar¬ 
rier,  through  which  an  opening  had  been  made  to  permit  the 
egress  of  the  junks,  which  were  being  cleared  out  of  the  river  by 
the  admirals’  and  advanced  gun-boats. 

The  villagers  of  Takoo  now  came  boldly  down  to  the  water’s 
edge  and  communicated  with  us,  and  we  amused  ourselves  and 
the  populace  by  driving  a  donkey  tandem  through  the  narrow 
streets. 

About  midday  the  Opossum  was  ready  to  start  for  the  front, 
but  the  passage  through  the  junk  barrier  seemed  an  impossibility. 
Temple  Bar  on  a  wet  day  never  looked  more  hopelessly  crowded 
to  a  gentleman  in  a  hansom  anxious  to  catch  a  train,  than  did  the 
junk  barrier  to  us,  anxious  to  overtake  the  admiral.  At  last  we 
dashed  at  it  in  despair,  and  by  a  miracle  of  steering,  which  cre¬ 
ated  a  panic  among  the  crews  of  the  junks,  who  were  all  running 
into  each  other — crushing,  jamming,  and  shouting  at  the  same 
moment — succeeded  in  squeezing  safely  through.  The  breadth 
of  the  river  at  this  point  was  not  more  than  that  of  the  Thames 
at  Richmond.  Its  banks  were  thickly  fringed  by  long  reeds,  be¬ 
hind  the  waving  tops  of  which  salt-pans  extended  as  far  as  the 
eye  could  reach,  covered  with  conical  tumuli  of  varied  dimen¬ 
sions.  Borne  onward  by  a  strong  flood  tide,  we  swept  round  the 
sharp  angles  with  which  the  river  abounds  throughout  the  whole 
length  of  its  tortuous  course  from  Tientsin,  and  soon  found  our¬ 
selves  between  banks  of  a  more  cheerful  character.  The  gaunt 
reed  had  given  place  to  the  more  profitable  holcus,  or  Barbadoes 
millet,  fields  of  which,  bordered  by  willows,  and  neatly  fenced  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  villages,  imparted  quite  a  civilized  air  to 
the  country. 

In  two  hours  we  arrived  at  the  reach  in  which  the  admirals 
were  at  anchor  with  five  gun-boats,  and  in  company  with  them 
went  quietly  along,  feeling  our  way  with  no  little  interest  and  cu¬ 
riosity,  up  waters  for  the  first  time  plowed  by  a  foreign  keel. 
Toward  evening  the  mud  villages  became  more  numerous :  their 


216 


ASTONISHMENT  OF  THE  POPULATION. 


entire  populations  turned  out  as  the  leading  gun-boats  passed, 
and  saluted  them  with  profound  and  reverential  obeisances,  then 
squatted  in  a  long  blue  line  upon  the  river’s  bank,  and  gazed  in 
awestruck  wonderment  as  our  ardent  little  craft,  defying  wind 
and  tide,  puffed  steadily  along,  a  slight  commotion  under  her 
stern  being  the  only  external  evidence  to  the  Celestial  eye  of  the 
demon  that  was  propelling  her.  Our  progress  was  in  some  meas¬ 
ure  retarded  by  the  necessity  which  existed  of  clearing  all  the 
junks  out  of  the  river  as  we  advanced,  lest,  in  so  narrow  a  stream, 
the  authorities  might  order  them  to  be  sunk  behind  us,  with  the 
view  of  catching  us  in  a  trap.  Although,  doubtless,  this  was  a 
very  proper  precaution,  it  was  perfectly  evident,  from  the  panic 
which  our  appearance  created,  that  no  real  danger  was  to  be  ap¬ 
prehended  on  this  score,  and  that,  so  far  from  wishing  to  entrap 
us,  they  would  be  only  too  glad  to  get  rid  of  us.  The  villagers 
were  clearly  under  the  impression  that  we  were  on  our  way  to 
upset  the  dynasty.  I  accompanied  Captain  Hall  and  Mr.  Lay  to 
the  shore,  when  the  latter  gentleman  had  some  communication 
with  the  people.  It  invariably  commenced,  however,  with  a  re¬ 
quest  that  we  should  come  and  reign  over  them.  “  Hail,  O  king!” 
they  shouted,  as  we  approached;  “welcome,  great  king!  be  thou 
our  emperor ;  come  thou  and  reign  over  us !”  Then  they  would 
protest  with  the  greatest  earnestness  their  intention  immediately 
to  comply  with  the  order  to  clear  out  their  junks,  and  offer  pro¬ 
visions  of  all  sorts,  refusing  to  receive  money ;  this  latter  piece 
of  politeness  arising  from  dread  of  their  own  authorities,  and  the 
rest  of  their  civility  being  based  upon  the  alarm  inspired  by  our¬ 
selves,  and  a  prudent  desire  to  propitiate  the  incoming  dynasty. 
When  asked  to  procure  beef  or  other  provisions  not  easy  to  get, 
they  would  urgently  plead  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  any,  but  sub¬ 
missively  conclude  by  saying,  “However,  since  you,  the  great 
king,  command,  we  must  obey.”  Meantime,  when  the  junks  did 
not  clear  out  fast  enough,  we  cut  their  cables,  sending  whole  fleets 
of  them  occasionally  pell-mell  down  the  river. 

But  we  were  not  content  with  marking  our  track  by  these 
floating  evidences  of  our  progress ;  our  advance  was  heralded  by 
huge  bonfires,  which  were  made  of  stacks  of  millet  straw,  their 
position  upon  the  margin  of  the  river  rendering  them  too  availa¬ 
ble  for  fire-rafts  to  make  it  wise  to  leave  them  behind  us,  to  be 
floated  up  with  the  flood  tide  on  the  first  dark  night.  As  night 


BRILLIANT  BONFIRES.— A  STEPPE  COUNTRY. 


217 


closed  in,  the  lurid  glare  cast  by  these  huge  conflagrations  oyer 
the  sky  doubtless  carried  terror  into  the  hearts  of  mandarin  and 
peasant,  while  upon  ourselves  the  effect  was  no  less  solemn  and 
impressive.  A  broad  belt  of  light  shed  its  glowing  lustre  upon 
a  grove  of  large  trees,  illuminating  its  sombre  recesses,  but  throw¬ 
ing  into  gloom  yet  deeper  by  contrast  those  which  were  still  in 
shade.  The  thick  foliage  flushed  for  a  moment,  then  crackled 
and  withered  up  under  the  scorching  heat,  leaving  the  scarred  and 
naked  branch  like  a  maimed  limb  extended  toward  the  blaze. 
The  river  eddied  and  rippled  in  the  ruddy  light,  and  the  gun¬ 
boats,  with  every  spar  and  rope  vividly  distinct,  seemed  anchored 
in  a  sheet  of  flame. 

Our  day’s  work  was  over.  We  had  reached  a  point  about 
twenty  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  river  not  only  without  mol¬ 
estation,  but  with  every  demonstration  of  good-will  on  the  part  of 
the  inhabitants ;  and  I  went  to  bed,  encouraged  by  the  hope  that, 
as  this  absence  of  hostilities  seemed  likely  to  continue,  we  might 
still  succeed  with  our  force  of  nine  allied  gun-boats,  then  anchor¬ 
ed  at  or  near  the  spot,  in  reaching  Tientsin. 

On  the  following  morning  we  had  another  most  convincing 
and  satisfactory  proof  of  the  anxiety  of  the  enemy  (if  such  they 
could  be  called  under  the  cirumstances)  to  avoid  us.  On  going 
up  to  the  fore-top  of  the  Opossum,  I  observed  encamped  on  the 
plain,  at  a  distance  of  about  a  mile  and  a  half,  a  large  body  of 
cavalry,  estimated  at  about  a  thousand  by  Captain  Osborn,  who, 
in  company  with  Sir  Frederick  Nicolson,  was  in  the  Bustard  and 
Stanch,  leading  gun-boats.  They  threw  a  round  shot  or  two 
among  them,  on  which  they  speedily  decamped.  They  were,  in 
all  probability,  the  same  cavalry  which  had  retreated  on  the  cap¬ 
ture  of  the  forts.  We  were  detained  a  few  hours  this  morning 
for  the  French  Admiral,  who  had  got  aground  a  short  distance 
astern  of  us ;  and,  in  the  mean  time,  I  inspected  the  surrounding 
country  through  a  glass.  It  reminded  me  in  many  respects  of 
the  south  of  Russia.  The  only  trees  visible  were  those  which 
marked  the  course  of  the  Peiho ;  and,  indeed,  inasmuch  as  in 
whatever  direction  one  turned,  the  river  was  always  in  sight,  the 
trees  which  wooded  it  were  sufficient  to  wood  the  landscape  as 
well.  Throughout  its  whole  course  to  Tientsin  I  observed  no 
stream  or  canal  of  any  note  entering  it.  The  country  stretched 
away  to  the  horizon  a  dry  brown  steppe,  and  across  it,  in  labv- 


218 


APPEARANCE  OF  THE  VILLAGES. 


rinthine  twists  and  most  eccentric  windings,  tlie  Peiho  finds  its 
way  to  the  sea,  watering  at  least  twice  the  extent  of  country  which 
it  would  traverse  did  it  flow  in  a  straight  line.  The  banks  are 
composed  of  clay  and  sand,  and  I  scarcely  remember  to  have  seen 
a  stone  either  at  Tientsin  or  on  the  way  there. 

Not  far  from  our  anchorage  there  was  a  large  village.  On  the 
dusty  main  road  to  it  there  passed  a  considerable  traffic — cover¬ 
ed  carts  and  donkey  tandems  predominated.  One  large  wagon 
drawn  by  six  or  eight  horses,  going  at  full  trot,  and  crowded  with 
passengers,  appeared  to  be  a  stage- wagon.  I  also  observed  wheel¬ 
barrows — a  man  being  in  the  shafts  and  a  donkey  leading.  Some¬ 
times  these  carry  passengers,  the  occupants  sitting  back  to  back, 
as  in  an  open  Irish  car,  on  each  side  of  the  single  huge  wheel 
which  works  in  the  middle,  between  them.  I  was  particularly 
struck  with  the  neatness  of  construction  of  the  solid  mud  cottages 
of  which  the  villages  are  composed.  The  angles  are  all  sharply 
finished,  the  gables  adorned  with  ornamental  moulding,  the  over¬ 
hanging  eaves  of  an  excellently  thatched  roof  neatly  trimmed,  and 
rising  out  of  it  a  respectable  solid  pair  of  chimneys.  Circular 
brick-kilns,  like  watch-towers,  here  and  there  dotted  the  land¬ 
scape,  as  bricks  are  occasionally  used  for  joss-houses  and  the  su¬ 
perior  order  of  residences. 

Hedges,  fences,  and  mud  walls  divided  the  fields  near  the  river- 
bank,  but  away  from  the  possibility  of  navigation  the  country 
looked  barren  and  uncultivated ;  primitive  docks  with  mud  dams 
contained  junks  undergoing  repair  or  in  process  of  construction; 
and  the  tapering  masts  of  these  craft  were  visible  in  all  directions, 
as  they  were  anchored  in  different  bends  of  the  river.  Now  we 
could  make  out  the  smoke  of  our  leading  gun-boats  to  the  right, 
now  to  the  left,  now  in  front,  now  almost  behind  us,  so  intermina¬ 
ble  and  intricate  seemed  the  windings  of  the  stream.  Fortunate¬ 
ly,  our  only  difficulty  lay  in  getting  some  of  the  larger  craft  round 
the  sharp  turns;  of  water  there  was  always  abundance  in  mid¬ 
channel,  the  soundings  never  giving  less  than  two  fathoms,  and 
sometimes  as  much  as  seven.  The  French  gun-boats  especially 
were  constantly  sticking  on  the  sharp  angles,  their  length  and 
want  of  power  rendering  it  a  difficult  operation  to  steer  them  in  a 
narrow  river  with  a  strong  tide  running.  Occasionally  the  Coro¬ 
mandel  shared  the  same  fate ;  but,  by  getting  out  hawsers  to  the 
shore,  she  was  hauled  into  the  stream ;  and  the  villagers  coming 


FIRST  VIEW  OF  TIENTSIN. 


219 


to  the  rescue  in  a  strong  body,  and  tugging  away  cheerfully  at 
the  ropes,  facilitated  the  task  considerably.  Still  we  did  not  make 
so  much  progress  as  on  the  previous  day,  having  accomplished 
probably  ten  or  twelve  miles. 

Upon  several  occasions  official  messengers,  with  the  buttons  of 
petty  mandarins,  were  observed  waving  on  the  shore,  and  making 
signs  of  their  desire  to  communicate  with  us.  Only  once,  how¬ 
ever,  was  this  attended  to,  and  the  messenger  turned  out  to  be  the 
emissary  of  the  magistrate  of  the  district,  who  expressed  a  wish  to 
hold  intercourse  with  us;  the  admiral,  however,  very  properly 
refused  to  incur  any  delay,  or  open  communications  with  any  one 
until  he  arrived  at  Tientsin. 

The  next  day  our  advance  was  not  more  rapid;  indeed  we 
were  left  behind  by  the  admiral  and  advanced  gun-boats,  in  con¬ 
sequence  of  being  attached  to  the  Fusee,  a  heavy  French  craft 
that  stood  in  need  of  much  pulling  and  hauling  at  the  corners. 
It  is  worthy  of  note  that  all  our  eighty  and  sixty  horse-power 
gun-boats  traversed  the  river  without  the  slightest  difficulty,  sub¬ 
sequently  making  the  passage  in  eight  hours ;  and  even  the  Cor¬ 
morant  dispatch  gun-vessel  got  up  to  Tientsin  from  Takoo  in 
about  twelve  hours. 

We  passed  ig.  the  course  of  the  day  a  barrier  of  junks,  which, 
however,  were  soon  sent  floating  down  the  stream,  and  offered  no 
material  impediment  to  our  advance.  On  the  26th  we  reached  a 
point  within  a  mile  and  a  half  of  Tientsin,  the  country  as  we  ad¬ 
vanced  having  become  more  thickly  populated,  the  banks  more 
richly  cultivated,  and  the  river  itself  more  crowded  with  junks. 
From  the  mast-head  of  the  Opossum  the  gates  and  pagodas  of  the 
city  were  distinctly  visible.  It  was  reported  that  the  Bustard  and 
Stanch  had  actually  reached  the  suburb,  and  as  the  achievement 
had  thus  been  successfully  completed,  the  Opossum  was  sent  back 
to  the  Gulf  with  the  news,  and  I  had  the  satisfaction  of  reporting 
to  Lord  Elgin,  by  midnight  of  the  same  day,  the  gratifying  intel¬ 
ligence  of  the  fortunate  issue  of  the  expedition. 

The  admirals  did  in  effect  reach  Tientsin  within  a  few  hours 
afterward,  and  Admiral  Seymour  was  immediately  waited  upon 
by  a  deputation  of  leading  merchants  and  gentry.  These  people 
being  impressed  with  the  absurd  notion  that  our  real  object,  in 
pursuing  a  vigorous  policy  in  China,  was  an  extension  of  our 
commercial  relations  with  it,  immediately  offered  to  trade  with 


220  APPOINTMENT  OF  IMPERIAL  COMMISSIONERS. 

the  gun-boats  then  at  Tientsin,  in  spite,  they  themselves  averred, 
of  the  opposition  of  their  government,  and  requested  the  admiral 
to  send  in  a  list  of  the  merchandise  he  wished  to  dispose  of,  to¬ 
gether  with  their  prices ;  and,  in  consideration  of  his  finding  a 
ready  market,  they  went  on  to  express  a  hope  that  he  would  spare 
the  town.  Mr.  Lay  informed  -these  gentlemen  that  we  desired 
not  trade,  but  commissioners,  and  that,  if  these  did  not  speedily 
make  their  appearance,  he  feared  the  town  would  be  destroyed ; 
upon  which  the  deputation  stated  that  they  would  themselves 
proceed  to  Pekin,  and  knock  without  ceasing  at  the  imperial  pal¬ 
ace  ;  and  they  guaranteed  that  by  their  importunity  they  would 
obtain  commissioners,  and  hoped  that  in  the  mean  time  their  au¬ 
gust  excellencies,  then  in  the  river,  would  be  satisfied  with  abund¬ 
ance  of  beef  and  provisions,  upon  which  numbers  of  oxen  were 
incontinently  brought  to  the  bank  and  sacrificed  as  peace-offerings. 
•  ••»••• 

During  my  absence  the  Sampson  had  arrived  from  Hong  Kong 
with  the  Woodcock  and  Kestrel,  forty-horse-power  gun-boats,  in 
tow,  and  having  on  board  a  company  of  Koyal  Engineers  105 
strong. 

On  the  following  morning  Mr.  Bruce  proceeded  up  the  river  to 
make  arrangements  for  the  reception  of  the  embassador,  and  on 
the  29th  news  was  received  from  him  that  these  were  completed, 
and  that  no  obstacle  remained  to  impede  the  immediate  progress 
of  the  allied  plenipotentiaries. 

On  the  same  day  another  and  more  important  communication 
was  received,  the  last  with  which  we  were  favored  from  our  old 
friends  Tan,  Tsung,  and  Wu.  It  inclosed,  without  comment,  a 
copy  of  the  following  imperial  decree :  “We  command  Kweiliang, 
Chief  Secretary  of  State,  and  Hwashana,  President  of  the  Board 
of  Civil  Office,  to  go  by  post-route  to  the  port  of  Tientsin,  for  the 
investigation  and  dispatch  of  business.  Bespect  this.” 

The  fact  that  this  document  emanated  from  the  court  immedi¬ 
ately  on  the  report  reaching  Pekin  of  the  arrival  of  our  gun-boats 
at  Tientsin  not  only  thoroughly  bore  out  the  view  of  the  plenipo¬ 
tentiaries  in  the  estimate  they  had  formed  of  the  probable  effects 
of  the  policy  they  had  pursued  hitherto,  but  served  as  a  most 
complete  justification  of  that  policy,  inasmuch  as  the  imperial 
government,  by  at  once  superseding  Tan  &  Company,  tacitly  ac¬ 
knowledged  their  mismanagement  of  affairs,  and,  by  the  appoint- 


THE  PLENIPOTENTIARIES  ASCEND  THE  PEIHO. 


221 


ment  of  t^o  new  commissioners,  gave  a  fresh  proof  of  their  desire 
to  settle  matters  amicably.  With  any  other  nation  one  would 
have  supposed  that  the  capture  of  the  forts  at  the  mouth  of  one 
of  its  rivers,  and  its  subsequent  ascent  by  a  hostile  force,  would 
have  called  forth  a  warlike  demonstration  instead  of  a  civil  com¬ 
mission. 

The  Chinese  differ,  however,  from  other  nations,  and  fortunate¬ 
ly  the  plenipotentiaries  appreciated  the  distinction.  This  news, 
of  course,  rendered  their  immediate  departure  for  Tientsin  more 
than  ever  imperative,  and  it  was  therefore  arranged  that  Lord 
Elgin  and  Baron  Gros  should  proceed  up  the  river  the  same  even¬ 
ing.  As  it  was  discovered  at  the  last  moment  that  the  French 
gun-boat  appropriated  to  Baron  Gros’s  use  was  unable  to  ascend 
the  river  from  defective  machinery,  his  excellency  and  staff  ac¬ 
companied  the  English  mission  in  the  Slaney.  A  lovely  moon 
lighted  up  the  windings  of  our  watery  path,  and  tempted  us  to  re¬ 
main  on  deck  till  a  late  hour ;  and  as  we  swept  rapidly  past  grove 
and  hamlet,  we  regarded  with  wonder,  in  the  pale  clear  gleam  of 
that  midnight  hour,  all  the  evidences  of  a  population  as  tranquil 
and  unsuspecting  of  danger  as  though  the  thunder  of  barbarian 
guns  had  never  fallen  on  their  ears,  or  as  if  their  countrymen  fly¬ 
ing  before  the  barbarian  bayonet  was  a  sight  devoid  of  all  signifi¬ 
cance. 

Yet  scarce  a  week  had  elapsed  since  the  fortifications  these  poor 
peasantry  had  gazed  on  wonderingly  as  impregnable  fortresses 
had  been  leveled  with  the  ground,  and  an  army,  in  their  eyes  in¬ 
vincible,  had  been  scattered  to  the  winds.  Now  the  pant  of  the 
steam-engine  mingled  with  their  dreams,  but  was  powerless  to 
keep  them  awake ;  and  so  thoroughly  was  this  mutual  confidence 
established,  that  a  solitary  gun-boat,  in  the  dead  of  night,  was 
fearlessly  threading  its  way  through  an  enemy’s  country,  along 
the  narrow  and  devious  river  which  formed  the  high  road  to  the 
capital,  the  mysteries  of  which,  a  week  before,  were  unknown  to 
the  foreigner ;  and  on  board  that  lonely  bark  which  now  traversed 
it  for  almost  the  first  time  were  the  embassadors  of  the  two  great¬ 
est  powers  in  the  world,  forcing  their  way  into  the  heart  of  a 
country  containing  300,000,000  inhabitants,  in  defiance  of  the  will 
of  the  government,  as  expressed  by  an  overt  act  of  hostility  only 
a  few  days  before.  Probably  no  British  minister  ever  performed 
a  journey  in  the  country  to  which  he  was  accredited  under  such 


222 


APPROACH  TO  TIENTSIN.— DENSE  CROWDS. 


anomalous  circumstances  as  those  which  attended  the  one  upon 
which  Lord  Elgin  was  now  engaged ;  not  even  Lords  Macartney 
and  Amherst,  when  in  the  same  capacity  they  ascended  this  same 
river  in  Chinese  junks,  and  inscribed  themselves  as  u  tribute  bear¬ 
ers”  on  the  flags  which  floated  from  their  mast-heads. 

Daylight  found  us  in  the  suburbs  of  Tientsin,  the  first  aspect  of 
which,  as  approached  from  the  east,  is  most  remarkable ;  enormous 
stacks  of  salt,  numbering  from  two  to  three  hundred,  line  the  banks 
of  the  river  for  some  hundreds  of  yards  below  the  town ;  these 
stacks  vary  in  length  from  two  hundred  to  six  hundred  feet,  and 
average  about  a  hundred  in  breadth ;  they  are  twenty  or  thirty 
feet  in  height,  shaped  like  the  rounded  top  of  a  carrier’s  wagon, 
and  covered  with  matting,  or  thatched  with  millet  straw,  the  salt 
being  stacked  in  bags.  Passing  these,  we  arrived  at  a  bridge  of 
boats,  which  connected  one  of  the  suburbs  with  the  city,  and 
which  was  opened  to  let  us  through.  The  river  now  flows  be¬ 
tween  banks  ten  or  twelve  feet  high,  and  densely  populated ;  the 
mud  houses  were  packed  closely  on  either  side,  and  their  occu¬ 
pants  still  more  compactly  wedged,  not  only  down  to  the  water’s 
edge,  but  into  it  up  to  their  waists,  in  order  to  gaze  at  their  ease 
on  the  phenomenon  before  them.  Thus  an  oblique  plane  of  up¬ 
turned  faces  and  bare  heads  extended  almost  from  the  surface  of 
the  water  to  the  eaves  of  the  houses ;  and  up  to  the  last  day  of 
our  residence  the  banks  were  always  more  or  less  crowded  with 
spectators  watching  the  movements  of  the  barbarians.  A  long 
straight  reach  extends  from  below  the  bridge  of  boats  to  the  point 
of  the  junction  of  the  river  and  the  grand  canal,  which  enters  the 
Peiho  at  right  angles  from  the  southward,  and  here  terminates  its 
extended  course  of  about  600  miles. 

Directly  facing  us,  as  we  steamed  up  this  reach,  past  a  line  of 
our  own  gun-boats,  which  were  anchored  in  it,  was  a  picturesque 
line  of  buildings,  abreast  of  which  the  allied  admirals  were  moor¬ 
ed.  This  fragile  and  somewhat  fantastic  construction  suggested 
the  notion  of  a  summer  palace.  We  were  informed  that  as  such 
it  had,  in  fact,  served  the  Emperor  Kien-lung,  in  honor  of  which 
happy  event  it  had  been  invested  by  imperial  patent  with  the  title 
of  “  The  Temple  of  Supreme  Felicity,”  under  which  auspicious 
designation  it  was  now  about  to  serve  as  our  abode. 

We  were  soon  clambering  up  the  steep  bank,  finding  some  dif¬ 
ficulty  in  freeing  ourselves  from  the  services  which  were  officious- 


VIEW  OF  THE  RIVER. 


223 


ly  pressed  upon  us  by  the  Chinamen  who  crowded  it,  and  who, 
thrusting  forth  helping  hands,  seemed  anxious  to  show  us  every 
mark  of  civility.  W e  found,  when  we  stood  within  the  walls 
which  inclosed  our  future  residence,  that  it  was  not  belied  by  its 
external  aspect.  As  is  generally  the  case  in  China,  it  served  the 
double  purpose  of  a  temple  and  a  palace,  though  it  had  not  been 
honored  with  the  imperial  presence  since  the  Emperor  Kien-lung 
had  made  it  his  temporary  abode. 

Upon  the  top  of  the  wall,  which  was  only  separated  from  the 
edge  of  the  river-bank  by  a  narrow  pathway,  were  two  large  apart¬ 
ments  of  light  and  graceful  construction,  surrounded  by  verandas 
elaborately  carved,  in  which  depended  monster  horn  lanterns, 
gaudily  painted,  as  transparent  as  ground  glass,  and  decorated 
with  innumerable  tassels  and  silken  hangings.  The  Chinese  have 
carried  the  art  of  fabricating  these  lanterns  to  great  perfection. 
They  first  soften  the  horn  by  the  application  of  a  very  high  de¬ 
gree  of  moist  heat,  and  then  extend  it  into  thin  laminae  of  any 
shape,  either  flat  or  globular.  The  walls  of  these  rooms  were 
composed  of  paper  pasted  upon  the  wooden  trellis-work ;  the  slid¬ 
ing  panels  into  which  it  was  divided  were  made  to  answer  the 
purpose  of  windows.  When  they  were  all  shut,  however,  the  pa¬ 
per  was  so  transparent  that  there  was  plenty  of  light,  and  on  a 
sunny  day  the  glare  was  unpleasant.  These  two  buildings  were 
thirty  or  forty  yards  apart,  and  connected  by  a  veranda  which  ran 
along  the  top  of  the  wall,  and  terminated  in  two  quaint  little  ki¬ 
osks,  their  upturned  roofs  supported  by  carved  posts.  These 
apartments  were  appropriated  by  Baron  Gros  and  Lord  Elgin ; 
that  occupied  by  the  latter  being  perched  upon  an  artificial  mound, 
laid  out  in  true  Chinese  taste,  and  ascended  by  steps  of  ornament¬ 
al  rock-work.  Overhanging  the  river,  they  commanded  an  extens¬ 
ive  and  ever-interesting  view :  below  them,  a  dozen  English  and 
French  gun-boats,  some  of  them  moored  within  pleasant  conver¬ 
sational  distance,  imparted  a  satisfactory  sense  of  security  to  the 
position. 

Not  a  single  native  craft,  except  an  occasional  ferry-boat,  rip¬ 
pled  the  surface  of  the  stream  or  reposed  upon  its  waters.  What 
a  metamorphosis  had  been  wrought  in  a  few  hours  by  the  magic 
devil-ships  from  the  West!  We  were  not  able  to  appreciate  it, 
but  to  the  Chinese  the  change  must  have  been  startling  and  sig¬ 
nificant.  We  learn  from  the  accounts  of  the  embassies  of  Lords 


224 


MAKING  OURSELVES  COMFORTABLE. 


Macartney  and  Amherst  how  active  the  river  life  at  Tientsin  was 
in  their  day.  “We  crossed  a  bridge  over  the  river,”  says  the  his¬ 
torian  of  Lord  Amherst’s  mission,  u  the  surface  of  which  was 
scarcely  visible  from  junks;”  and  again,  “I  counted  200  specta¬ 
tors  on  one  junk,  and  these  vessels  were  innumerable.”  The 
spectators  were  as  numerous  as  ever,  but  their  posts  of  observation 
were  no  longer  junks.  People  and  houses  completed  the  view 
from  these  windows — a  part  of  the  city  wall,  one  of  the  gates,  and 
some  pagodas,  appearing  at  no  great  distance  to  the  right. 

The  'personnel  of  the  two  missions  were  accommodated  in  the 
temple,  and  other  buildings  all  inclosed  within  one  outer  wall.  A 
partition  wall,  however,  divided  us  from  our  allies.  They  occu¬ 
pied  a  number  of  detached  summer-houses,  dotted  about  a  garden. 
We  established  ourselves  in  the  innermost  recesses  of  the  temple, 
our  bedrooms  furnished  with,  sacred  pigs  and  bronzes,  in  which 
smouldered  eternal  fire  (until  we  came  and  allowed  it  to  go  out) ; 
our  slumbers  presided  over  by  grim  deities  with  enormous  stom- 


A  Bedroom  fit  Tientsin. 


achs,  or  many-armed  goddesses,  with  heads  encircled  in  a  blaze  of 
golden  or  rather  brass  flame.  The  perfume  of  incense  still  clung 


OUR  QUARTERS  IN  THE  TEMPLE. 


225 


to  these  sacred  purlieus.  Would  it  had  been  the  only  odor  to 
which  our  nostrils  were  subjected  !  Now  began  the  process  com¬ 
monly  known  as  “shaking  down”  into  our  quarters :  altars  were 
turned  into  wash-hand-stands ;  looking-glasses  were  supported 
against  little  gods;  tables,  chairs,  and  beds  were  indented  for 
upon  certain  venerable  citizens,  who  had  been  appointed  by  the 
authorities  to  attend  to  our  wants.  Doubtless  they  must  have 
wondered  much  at  many  of  our  demands,  and  some  of  them — as, 
for  instance,  tubs — they  never  succeeded  in  satisfying. 

Servants  with  a  white  badge,  emblem  of  an  armistice,  attached 
to  their  coats,  waited  assiduously  upon  us,  perpetually  presenting 
us  with  little  cups  of  tea ;  indeed,  for  the  first  few  days  a  man  was 
always  walking  about  with  a  teapot,  ready  at  the  shortest  notice 
to  refresh  the  thirsty  soul.  The  tables  with  which  we  were  sup¬ 
plied  were  solidly  constructed  and  well  carved,  square  in  shape, 
as  Chinese  tables  always  are.  A  red  cloth,  elaborately  embroider¬ 
ed,  served  as  a  table-cloth,  and,  falling  to  the  ground  in  front,  con¬ 
cealed  the  legs  of  the  table.  The  high-backed  uncomfortable  chairs 
were  similarly  decorated,  gorgeous  enough  to  look  upon,  but  very 
disagreeable  to  use.  Some  of  us  erected  our  musquito-curtains 
over  square  wooden  ottomans ;  others  slept  upon  a  brick  platform, 
generally  used  in  China,  and  which  in  cold  weather  is  heated  by 
fires  from  beneath,  after  the  manner  of  an  oven — an  unhealthy 
style  of  bed-place  at  all  times,  it  should  seem,  for  in  summer  the 
damp  is  apt  to  strike  through  the  bricks,  and  in  winter,  when  they 
are  not  only  dry,  but  heated,  a  semi-baking  process  must  be  more 
or  less  prejudicial. 

In  front  of  the  temple  was  a  square  court-yard  which  was  par¬ 
tially  shaded  by  the  spreading  arms  of  a  fine  old  tree ;  however, 
we  thought  nature  required  a  little  assistance ;  so  the  whole  court 
was  matted  in,  which  not  only  added  to  the  picturesque  effect  of 
our  abode,  and  enabled  those  of  us  with  vivid  imaginations  to  fancy 
themselves  in  Italy,  but  was  of  a  most  practical  utility  in  reducing 
the  temperature,  when  mind  and  matter  were  both  in  danger  of 
being  melted  entirely  away.  A  raised  flagged  passage  intersected 
this  court,  and  on  each  side  of  it  was  a  quaint  little  kiosk,  the  roof 
separated  by  four  carved  pillars,  also  elaborately  carved,  brilliant¬ 
ly  colored,  and  surmounted  with  dragons’  heads,  rampant  fish, 
and  other  devices.  In  one  of  these  a  marble  slab  was  erected  ver¬ 
tically  upon  an  elevated  stone  platform,  and  was  covered  with 

P 


226  ARRIVAL  OF  RUSSIAN  AND  AMERICAN  MINISTERS. 

* 

Chinese  characters,  alleged  to  have  been  traced  by  the  hand  of 
the  Emperor  Kien-lung,  and  to  embody  a  high  moral  sentiment. 

The  building  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  court-yard  was  formed 
into  the  guard-house,  the  guard  being  usually  composed  of  engi¬ 
neers  and  marines,  and  numbering  upward  of  a  hundred  men.  At¬ 
tached  to  this  building  were  the  servants’  offices,  and  behind  them 
the  stables.  Our  establishment  was  thus  very  complete ;  and  it 
was  not  without  a  feeling  of  regret  that  I  saw  it  dismantled,  pre¬ 
paratory  to  its  restoration  for  the  rites  of  paganism,  when,  after 
having  occupied  it  for  upward  of  a  month,  we  looked  back  upon 
it  for  the  last  time. 

As  it  had  been  deemed  not  impossible  that  it  might  be  neces¬ 
sary  to  advance  at  some  future  period  nearer  to  the  capital,  the  ad¬ 
miral  had  been  induced  to  push  two  of  the  gun-boats  on  an  ex¬ 
ploratory  expedition  still  farther  up  the  Peiho.  One  of  these, 
the  Kestrel,  was  of  the  smallest  class,  and,  drawing  only  five  feet 
water,  was  well  adapted  for  the  service.  At  a  distance  of  about 
ten  miles,  however,  above  Tientsin,  even  this  draught  proved 
too  much,  and  she  was  compelled  to  return,  having  solved  the 
problem  that,  unless  considerably  lightened,  and  not  with  certain¬ 
ty  even  then,  the  ascent  of  the  Peiho  to  Toong-chow  would  be  im¬ 
practicable  for  our  gun-boats  at  that  season  of  the  year.  From  the 
high-water  marks  on  the  river-banks,  however,  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  at  certain  periods  of  the  year  the  Peiho  would  be  nav¬ 
igable  for  all  classes  of  our  gun-boats.  She  reported  the  character 
of  the  river-banks  above  Tientsin  to  be  unchanged. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  day  of  our  arrival,  Count  Poutiatine 
and  Mr.  Reed  arrived  together  in  the  Russian  steamer  u  Amerika,” 
and  immediately  issued  a  proclamation  stating  that  their  visit  to 
Tientsin  was  altogether  of  a  pacific  character.  The  attitude  they 
found  themselves  thus  compelled  to  assume  was  not  without  its 
inconveniences  as  compared  with  ours ;  for,  although  exact  in  the 
payment  of  our  just  debts,  we  insisted  upon  all  our  reasonable 
wants  being  promptly  and  satisfactorily  supplied.  Thus  we  had 
at  once  appropriated  the  most  convenient  and  respectable  resi¬ 
dence  we  could  find  ;  but  our  neutral  allies  had  some  difficulty  in 
renting  a  house  on  shore :  the  proprietor  (doubtless  a  good  deal 
puzzled  as  to  the  relation  of  might  and  right  in  his  view  of  the 
state  of  matters  generally)  made  a  novel  proposition  in  the  shape 
of  an  offer  of  6000  dollars  if  they  would  not  rent  it.  This,  how- 


THEIR  ABODES. — PEAN. 


227 


ever,  was  declined,  the  difficulty  somehow  or  other  overcome  and 
a  handsome  rent  for  the  short  space  of  one  month  was  ultimately 
pressed  upon  the  reluctant  owner.  To  judge  from  the  appearance 
of  the  mansion,  he  was  a  rich  man.  Mr.  Reed  lived  in  a  charming 
retreat  with  a  Levantine  air  about  it ;  a  court-yard  with  flowers 
and  fountains,  and  ponds  full  of  gold-fish  was  surrounded  by  cool, 
airy  apartments  with  paper  walls,  and  verandas  and  balconies  over¬ 
hanging  the  river.  Count  Poutiatine  lived  next  door — a  strip  of 
intervening  building  which  was  impregnable  from  without,  and 
consecrated  to  the  use  of  the  female  portion  of  the  Chinese  own¬ 
er’s  establishment,  alone  separating  him  from  his  colleague. 

This  residence  was  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river,  and  within 
view  of  our  yamun,  though  distant  from  it  about  half  a  mile. 
Ere  long  the  flags  of  our  respective  nations,  waving  proudly  in 
the  breeze,  signified  to  the  Chinese  world  of  Tientsin  the  distinct¬ 
ive  abodes  of  the  chiefs  of  the  four  barbarian  hordes  who  had 
thus  boldly  located  themselves  in  their  city. 

In  a  country  which  abounded  with  horses  and  roads,  it  was  not 
to  be  supposed  that  persons  of  an  exploratory  tendency  were  to 
be  satisfied  with  pedestrian  excursions;  we  therefore  sent  in  a 
requisition  for  a  certain  number  of  steeds,  and,  after  some  delay, 
were  furnished  with  what  appeared  the  scum  of  the  stables  of 
Tientsin.  These  were  indignantly  rejected,  and  we  ultimately  ob¬ 
tained  six  very  respectable  ponies,  and  six  very  uncomfortable 
Chinese  saddles,  very  hard  and  angular,  and  garnished  with  ex¬ 
tensive  drapery,  and  an  awkward  bolster-shaped  protuberance  in 
front.  To  these  uncouth  contrivances,  however,  we  ultimately 
became  accustomed;  and  I  had  minutely  explored  the  country 
round  Tientsin  within  a  radius  of  about  six  miles  before  we 
left  it. 

Intelligence  now  reached  us  of  the  near  approach  of  the  com¬ 
missioners,  and  Mr.  Lay  received  a  note  from  his  friends  who  had 
formed  the  deputation  on  the  day  of  the  admiral’s  arrival,  calling 
his  attention  to  the  fact  of  their  prompt  nomination  as  a  proof 
that  their  promise  had  been  fulfilled.  This  news  was  confirmed 
on  the  following  day  (2d  of  June)  by  the  prefect  of  the  city,  Pean, 
who  came  to  pay  us  a  visit,  ostensibly  to  see  that  our  wants  were 
supplied,  and  inform  us  of  the  proximity  of  the  commissioners, 
but  really  to  investigate  the  barbarian  character,  and  acquire  im¬ 
portance  in  the  eyes  of  the  commissioners  by  the  fact  of  his  hav- 


228 


ARRIVAL  OF  THE  COMMISSIONERS. 


ing  had  personal  intercourse  with  us — a  proceeding  the  dangers  of 
which  he  would  no  doubt  discant  upon,  as  also  the  wonderful  tal¬ 
ent  he  displayed  in  “soothing”  our  “uncontrollable  fierceness.” 

In  consequence,  probably,  of  his  own  representations  of  his 
qualifications  for  the  office,  he  was  afterward  appointed  one  of  the 
subordinates  in  carrying  on  negotiations,  and  proved  to  be  a  self- 
sufficient  ambitious  “intriguant:”  his  dishonesty,  however,  was 
so  transparent,  and  his  general  bearing  so  offensive,  that  he  soon 
became  as  obnoxious  to  his  own  superiors  as  he  was  to  us.  Upon 
this  occasion  of  his  first  interview  his  manner  was  one  of  fawning- 
servility,  while  his  aspect  and  gestures  were  so  effeminate  that  the 
description  of  one  of  our  party,  who  called  him  “  a  large  flirt,” 
was  most  appropriate.  Notwithstanding  an  immense  deal  of  in¬ 
sinuating  giggle  and  coquetry,  he  failed  in  his  principal  object  of 
seeing  Lord  Elgin,  and  returned  very  little  wiser  than  when  he 
came. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day  I  was  taking  a  ride  with  Fitz 
Eoy,  making  trial  of  our  ponies  and  of  the  road  to  Pekin  for  the 
first  time,  when  a  cortege,  preceded  by  a  cloud  of  dust,  indicated 
the  approach  of  some  grand  personages.  Presently  appeared 
runners  with  rods  of  office,  corresponding  to  javelin-men:  these 
cleared  the  way,  and  forced  the  people  to  the  right  and  left ;  then 
followed  two  stately  chairs,  each  borne  by  eight  stalwart  bearers, 
containing  two  of  the  most  elevated  dignitaries  in  the  realm.  The 
common  people  at  once  brought  themselves  up  to  the  attitude 
“attention,”  the  hands  being  pressed  on  the  outside  of  the  thigh, 
and  the  body  maintained  erect  and  motionless.  We  could  scarce¬ 
ly  make  out  the  features  of  the  inmates  through  the  small  win¬ 
dow  of  the  chair,  across  which  was  stretched  fine  gauze;  but, 
though  in  all  probability  we  were  the  first  barbarians  they  had 
ever  set  eyes  upon,  they  gazed,  with  all  the  imperturbability  of 
Chinese  dignity,  impassively  in  front  of  them,  their  countenances 
manifesting  neither  curiosity,  alarm,  surprise,  or  any  emotion 
whatever.  Immediately  behind  was  a  dense  and  dusty  crowd  of 
footmen  and  horsemen,  evidently  coming  off  a  journey,  and, 
though  many  of  them  were  handsomely  appareled,  and  were 
doubtless  officials  of  some  rank,  they  looked  worn  and  travel- 
stained.  A  number  of  excellent  well-built  covered  baggage-wag¬ 
ons,  drawn  by  four  or  six  large  fat  mules,  completed  the  proces¬ 
sion,  which  was  evidently  one  not  of  display,  but  of  serious  earnest. 


OUR  OFFICIAL  PROCESSION. 


229 


On  the  following  day,  our  conjecture  that  we  had  witnessed  the 
entry  of  the  commissioners  was  confirmed  by  the  communication 
they  addressed  to  Lord  Elgin,  in  which,  after  styling  themselves 
imperial  commissioners  and  ministers,  they  announced  their  arriv¬ 
al  with  full  powers,  and  fixed  the  day  after  for  an  interview.  In 
answer  to  this  communication  the  embassador  informed  the  com¬ 
missioners  that,  although  the  nature  of  their  powers  was  not  de¬ 
scribed  in  their  letter,  still,  inasmuch  as  they  appeared,  according  to 
the  title  by  which  they  announced  themselves,  to  be  invested  with 
authority  corresponding  to  that  conferred  upon  him  as  the  pleni¬ 
potentiary  minister  of  his  sovereign,  he  would  make  no  objection 
to  meet  the  commissioners  at  the  hour  they  named,  “to  the  end 
that,  by  an  exchange  of  powers,  all  doubt  may  be  removed  as  to 
the  sincerity  of  an  intention  on  both  sides  to  terminate  existing 
differences  by  peaceful  negotiation.” 

It  did,  indeed,  seem  to  augur  favorably  that  the  term  “  Minister 
bearing  full  powers”  should  have  been  used,  as  upon  no  former 
occasion  had  a  Chinese  functionary  been  invested  with  this  title, 
and  all  previous  demands  for  a  commissioner  so  named  had  met 
with  a  decided  refusal.  It  was  consequently  arranged  that  the  in¬ 
terview  should  take  place  in  a  temple  dedicated  to  the  “  Oceanic 
Influences.”  This  building  was  situated  in  the  middle  of  a  plain 
at  some  distance  from  the  town,  and  upward  of  three  miles  from 
our  yamun.  The  midday  sun  had  now  become  so  powerful  that 
it  was  considered  expedient,  for  the  sake  of  the  soldiers  forming 
the  guard,  that  the  ceremony  should  be  postponed  until  late  in  the 
afternoon. 

At  3  P.M.  on  the  following  day  we  left  the  yamun,  the  ther¬ 
mometer  then  standing  at  133°  in  the  sun.  The  procession  was 
composed  of  the  embassador  and  suite,  in  twelve  chairs,  accom¬ 
panied  by  a  guard  of  honor  of  150  marines,  preceded  by  the  band 
of  the  Calcutta.  Lord  Elgin’s  chair  was  of  the  description  usual¬ 
ly  employed  by  mandarins  of  the  highest  rank,  much  larger  than 
the  ordinary  size,  surmounted  by  a  brass  knob,  and  borne  by  eight 
bearers.  To  avoid  a  long  detour,  the  chairs  were  sent  round  to 
meet  us,  and  we  crossed  the  river  in  boats.  As  usual,  a  dense 
crowd  lined  the  river-banks,  evincing  the  most  eager  interest  and 
curiosity.  Upon  the  guard  presenting  arms,  the  band  striking  up 
“God  save  the  Queen,”  and  the  procession  forming  and  com¬ 
mencing  to  move,  this  was  converted  into  excitement ;  nor,  in- 


230 


OUR  OFFICIAL  PROCESSION. 


deed,  was  it  to  be  wondered  at  that  an  event  altogether  unprece¬ 
dented,  and  of  so  striking  and  novel  a  character,  should  create 
some  sensation.  A  procession  of  200  Chinamen  marching  down 
the  Strand  armed  with  spears,  and  bows  and  arrows,  or  gigantic 
matchlocks,  with  their  own  tails  reaching  to  their  heels,  and  squir¬ 
rel  tails  adorning  their  conical  caps,  with  dragon-emblazoned 
breasts,  and  trowsers  and  sleeves  of  equal  dimensions — surround¬ 
ing  chairs  of  state  containing  obese  dignitaries,  with  peacocks’ 
feathers  and  red  balls  on  their  head,  would  probably  attract  a 
crowd ;  and  should  this  crowd  have  become  strongly  impressed 
with  the  belief  that  in  this  outlandish  procession  they  were  gazing 
upon  specimens  of  the  race  into  whose  hands  the  government  of 
the  country  was  about  to  pass,  their  countenance  would  betray  a 
more  than  ordinal  interest.  But  the  effect,  even  then,  upon  an 
English  mob  would  not  be  so  great  as  that  which  our  appearance 
was  calculated  to  create,  inasmuch  as  Chinamen  do  occasionally 
perambulate  the  streets  of  London,  and  this  type  of  countenance 
and  peculiarity  of  costume  is  familiar  to  every  child  who  is  fond 
of  picture-books.  But  in  a  country  where  an  “  Illustrated  Pekin 
Hews”  does  not  exist,  and  the  Chinese  costume  is  popularly  sup¬ 
posed  to  be  the  only  dress  known  in  the  world  at  large,  the  ap¬ 
pearance  of  our  red-coated  marines  and  cocked-hat  diplomates 
must  have  been  sufficiently  startling. 

Our  way  for  nearly  two  miles  led  through  the  extensive  suburb 
which  surrounds  Tientsin  in  almost  every  direction — the  winding 
streets  choked  with  people,  who  only  allowed  a  narrow  lane  for  the 
passage  of  the  procession,  and  who  bobbed  as  each  successive 
chair  passed  down  to  the  level  of  the  window,  so  as  to  have  a  good 
view  of  the  inmate. 


Sedan  Chair. 


The  most  perfect  order  and  silence  was  maintained  throughout, 
and  every  sign  of  outward  respect  shown  in  the  demeanor  of  the 


ASTONISHMENT  OF  THE  CHINESE. 


231 


people,  whose  heads  were  uncovered  and  tails  let  down :  the  lat¬ 
ter  only,  however,  is  the  usual  Chinese  mark  of  respect.  The 
shops  were  all  shut ;  but  our  confined  position  in  chairs,  added  to 
the  intense  heat,  which  rendered  the  task  of  observation  irksome, 
and  the  dense  crowd  which  confined  its  range,  prevented  our  doing 
more  on  this  occasion  than  obtaining  a  cursory  impression  of  the 
surrounding  scene.  At  last  we  emerged  from  the  labyrinth  of 
streets  we  had  been  threading,  and  found  ourselves  on  a  vast  open 
plain,  and  in  the  distance  observed  the  group  of  buildings,  situ¬ 
ated  upon  a  slight  eminence,  and  in  an  isolated  position,  which 
was  our  destination.  The  intervening  distance  was  thickly  dot¬ 
ted  with  human  beings,  reminding  one  of  the  Epsom  Downs  on  a 
Derby  day. 

As  we  approached  the  building,  the  sounds  of  shrill  pipe  and 
tom-tom  fell  upon  the  ear,  and  mingled  with  the  martial  sounds 
of  our  band.  A  feeble  intimation  was  made  to  Major  Boyle,  com¬ 
manding  the  marines,  that  he  was  not  to  enter  the  gate  of  the  court 
with  the  guard.  This,  however,  he  very  properly  disregarded,  and 
soon  the  discordant  music  emitted  by  half  a  dozen  blind  perform¬ 
ers,  who  stood  at  the  door,  and  played  probably  the  same  air  with 
which  Lord  Macartney  had  been  honored,  of  “subjugation  per¬ 
fected,”  was  completely  drowned  in  a  stentorian  adieu  to  our 
“own  Marianne.”  The  group  of  buildings  inclosed  within  the 
outer  wall  which  we  had  now  entered  was  composed  of  temples, 
audience  halls,  and  priests7  houses,  separated  by  court-yards  of 
different  dimensions,  in  which  were  planted  rows  of  trees  and  flow¬ 
ering  plants,  the  whole  covering  a  considerable  area.  The  au¬ 
dience  hall  in  which  the  commissioners  were  waiting  had  very 
much  the  appearance  of  a  deep  veranda,  as  it  was  entirely  open  to 
the  court-yard  on  one  side,  from  which  it  was  approached  by  a 
flight  of  steps.  Opposite  to  these  the  marines  drew  up.  The 
commissioners  came  down  the  steps  to  meet  Lord  Elgin  as  he  got 
out  of  his  chair ;  the  guard  presented  arms,  and  the  band  played 
the  National  Anthem.  The  effect  of  this  mixture  of  European 
and  Chinese  ceremony  was  striking  even  to  us,  who  were  familiar 
with  both ;  but  to  the  commissioners,  totally  unacquainted  with 
Europeans,  the  sudden  appearance  of  150  stalwart  bearded  sol¬ 
diers,  as  they  poured  into  the  inmost  court  of  the  temple,  must 
have  been  alarming;  and  as  the  hoarse  word  of  command  was 
given  within  a  few  yards  of  them,  followed  by  the  ringing  clink 


232 


INTERVIEW  WITH  THE  COMMISSIONERS. 


of  the  muskets  on  the  paved  yard,  and  the  roll  of  the  big  drum, 
they  might  be  excused  if  a  momentary  suspicion  flashed  across 
their  minds  that  the  fate  of  Yeh  might  be  in  reserve  for  them. 

Lord  Elgin  was  now  invited  to  a  seat  at  a  long  table,  covered 
with  sundry  descriptions  of  Chinese  delicacies,  the  commissioners 
being  seated  upon  either  side  of  him.  After  the  whole  party  had 
been  accommodated  with  chairs  round  this  table,  and  the  usual 
preliminary  compliments  had  passed,  the  embassador  stated  that 
the  object  of  the  meeting  being,  as  is  usual  in  such  cases,  an  ex¬ 
change  of  full  powers,  he  had  brought  his,  and  they  were  forth¬ 
with  produced  and  read. 

The  full  powers  of  the  commissioners  were  then  handed  to 
Kweiliang,  upon  a  tray  covered  with  a  cloth  of  imperial  yellow. 
The  venerable  mandarin,  after  receiving  them  with  every  mark 
of  respect,  and  holding  them  for  a  moment  elevated  above  his 
head  in  a  reverential  attitude,  handed  them  to  Mr.  Wade,  who 
translated  the  document.  Although  the  terms  of  the  decree  con¬ 
ferring  full  powers  on  the  imperial  commissioners  were  reasona¬ 
bly  large,  still  Lord  Elgin,  on  inquiry,  ascertained  that  the  com¬ 
missioners  had  not  been  put  in  possession  of  a  seal  of  office,  term¬ 
ed  the  Kwang-fang.  When  he  complained  of  this  omission,  he 
was  informed  by  them  that  this  seal  was  only  given  to  officers 
holding  permanent  situations.  Being  apprehensive  that  some 
mystification  might  be  involved  in  this  explanation,  he  deemed 
the  circumstance  one  which  warranted  him  in  manifesting  some 
displeasure.  Nor  was  he  sorry  to  avail  himself  of. the  opportuni¬ 
ty,  knowing  the  importance  which  the  Chinese  attach  to  expres¬ 
sion  and  manner,  to  make  his  dissatisfaction  apparent.  Among 
*  the  Chinese  the  physiognomy  and  deportment  of  the  individual 
are  carefully  noted,  as  indices  of  the  spirit  in  which  the  affairs 
with  the  management  of  which  he  is  intrusted  are  likely  to  be 
conducted;  and  in  their  dealings  with  foreigners  especially,  we 
have  repeated  evidence,  from  the  accounts  given  in  their  official 
dispatches  of  the  varied  expression  of  the  barbarian  countenance, 
that  the  functionaries  employed  were  much  guided  in  the  tone 
they  held  by  the  emotions  they  thought  they  could  detect  as  por¬ 
trayed  in  the  physiognomy. 

Lord  Elgin  had  arrived  at  Tientsin  as  the  representative  of  a 
nation  whose  dignity  had  been  outraged.  It  had  been  necessary 
to  have  recourse  to  violence,  and  to  force  an  entry  into  the  coun- 


EXCHANGE  OF  FULL  POWERS. 


233 


try,  to  obtain  satisfaction  for  insults :  and  any  symptom  of  reluct¬ 
ance  to  grant  it  rendered  a  stern,  uncompromising  bearing  doubly 
necessary.  He  accordingly  declined  the  refreshment  which  was 
pressed  upon  him,  and  terminated  the  meeting  abruptly,  stating, 
as  he  did  so,  that  he  would  reserve  for  a  written  communication 
any  remarks  he  might  have  to  make  upon  the  subject  of  the  full 
powers.  As  he  descended  the  steps  to  his  chair,  the  most  undis¬ 
guised  dismay  was  depicted  on  the  countenances  of  the  commis¬ 
sioners  and  their  satellites,  the  former  hurrying  after  the  embas¬ 
sador  to  his  chair  with  a  profusion  of  protestations  and  remon¬ 
strances. 

This  meeting  was  productive  of  the  most  salutary  effect,  and 
led  precisely  to  the  result  desired  by  Lord  Elgin.  A  communi¬ 
cation  from  the  commissioners  arrived  very  shortly  afterward,  re¬ 
questing  that  Mr.  Lay  might  be  allowed  to  visit  them,  and  assist 
them  with  his  advice  in  the  difficult  circumstances  in  which  they 
found  themselves  placed.  Mr.  Lay’s  position  at  Shanghai,  where 
he  held  the  appointment  under  the  Chinese  government  of  In¬ 
spector  of  Customs,  had  brought  him  into  close  and  intimate  con¬ 
tact  with  their  officials ;  and  he  possessed  their  confidence  to  an 
extent  probably  never  accorded  to  a  European.  As  Lord  Elgin 
had  the  highest  opinion  of  this  gentleman’s  capacity  and  judg¬ 
ment,  it  was  most  desirable  that  the  Chinese  should  place  him  in 
the  position  relatively  to  themselves  in  which  Lord  Elgin  most 
wished  to  see  him.  From  this  period  Mr.  Lay  was  in  daily  com¬ 
munication  with  the  Chinese  commissioners,  and  affairs  were  thus 
early  put  into  a  train  which  enabled  them  to  be  brought  to  a 
speedy  and  satisfactory  conclusion. 

The  mission  of  Mr.  Lay,  however,  being  somewhat  of  a  confi-  • 
dential  or  non-official  character,  Lord  Elgin  kept  up  his  official 
intercourse  with  the  commissioners  by  insisting  that  the  Kwang- 
fang  should  be  obtained  without  delay.  In  this  application  he 
was  quite  successful ;  the  Kwang-fang  was  sent  down  from  Pekin, 
and  the  much  vexed  question  of  full  powers  set  finally  at  rest. 

Such  was  the  nature  and  such  the  results  of  the  first  interview 
of  Lord  Elgin  with  the  imperial  commissioners.  It  did  not  last  a 
quarter  of  an  hour ;  nor  did  the  embassador  again  visit  the  “Tem¬ 
ple  of  the  Oceanic  Influences,”  or  meet  the  commissioners,  till  he 
went  there  finally  to  sign  the  treaty.  At  the  ceremony  above  de¬ 
scribed,  the  commissioners  were  dressed  in  the  plain  but  hand- 


234 


KWEILIANG. 


some  costume  of  the  Chinese  mandarin,  the  only  mark  denoting 
their  high  rank  being  the  opaque  red  button  and  peacock’s  feath¬ 
er;  a  tippet  of  rich  maroon  silk  covered  their  shoulders  and  arms; 
and,  with  the  exception  of  one  or  two  rings,  their  persons  were  de¬ 
void  of  all  ornament.  As  is  usual  upon  all  occasions  of  ceremo¬ 
nial  interviews,  numbers  of  minor  officials  crowded  the  apartment, 
eagerly  listening  to  the  conversation,  while  four  or  five  intelligent- 
looking  secretaries  took  notes  in  writing  of  all  that  passed. 

The  senior  commissioner,  Kweiliang,  was  a  venerable  man,  of 
placid  and  benevolent  expression,  with  a  countenance  full  of  in- 


Kweiliang,  First  Imperial  Commissioner. 


telligence,  though  his  eye  was  somewhat  dimmed,  and  his  hand 
palsied  from  extreme  age.  His  manners  were  polished  and  dig¬ 
nified,  and  his  whole  bearing  that  of  a  perfect  gentleman.  He  is 
a  Tartar,  and  has  risen  to  his  present  high  position  after  a  long 
course  of  services.  His  brother  Iliang  was  governor  general  of 
the  Two  Kiangs  (in  one  of  which  Shanghai  is  situated),  and  his 
account  of  the  visit  of  Mr.  Maclane  to  the  neighborhood  of  Soo- 


HWASHANA. 


235 


chow  has  been  already  alluded  to.  Kweiliang  himself  was  gov¬ 
ernor  general  of  the  province  of  Chih-li  at  the  period  of  Sir  John 
Bowring’s  visit  to  the  Gulf  of  Pechelee  in  1854.  He  then  rank¬ 
ed  as  second  Manchu  in  the  empire,  Yu-ching,  the  senior  chief 
secretary  or  prime  minister,  being  the  first.  Yu-ching  died  dur¬ 
ing  the  negotiations.  His  full  titles,  under  which  he  signed  the 
treaty,  were  as  follows :  “  Kweiliang,  a  senior  Chief  Secretary  of 
State,  styled  of  the  East  Cabinet,  Captain  General  of  the  Palin 
White  Banner  of  the  Manchu  Banner  Force,  and  Superintendent 
General  of  the  Administration  of  Criminal  Law.”  His  colleague, 
Hwashana,  a  mandarin  of  the  same  grade,  was  a  much  younger 
man,  with  a  square,  solid  face,  and  a  large  nose.  In  general  ap¬ 
pearance  he  reminded  one  strongly  of  the  pictures  of  Oliver  Crom¬ 
well  ;  and  in  the  lines  of  the  lower  part  of  his  countenance  much 
firmness  and  decision  of  character  were  apparent.  He  styles  him¬ 
self  “one  of  his  imperial  majesty’s  Expositors  of  the  Classics, 
Manchu  President  of  the  Office  for  the  Begulation  of  the  Civil 


Hwashana,  Second  Imperial  Commissioner. 


236 


SUCCESS  OF  LORD  ELGIN’S  POLICY. 


Establishment,  Captain  General  of  the  Bordered  Blue  Banner  of 
the  Chinese  Banner  Force,  and  Visitor  of  the  Office  of  Interpreta¬ 
tion.”  The  accompanying  portraits  are  copied  from  photographs 
taken  by  the  Hon.  1ST.  Jocelyn. 

Within  the  two  or  three  days  following  onr  meeting  with  the 
Chinese  commissioners,  Baron  Gros,  Count  Poutiatine,  and  Mr. 
Peed  had  interviews  with  their  excellencies,  and  expressed  them¬ 
selves  respectively  satisfied  with  the  full  powers  which  they  pro¬ 
duced. 

It  will  thus  appear,  from  the  above  narrative  of  events,  that 
the  allied  plenipotentiaries  had  every  reason  to  be  satisfied  with 
the  results  of  the  policy  they  had  persevered  in  hitherto,  in  spite 
of  the  many  obstacles  which  had  been  interposed.  It  was  evi¬ 
dent  that  the  imperial  cabinet  was  thoroughly  alarmed,  and  that 
the  plenipotentiary  commissioners  sent  down  to  treat  were  pre¬ 
pared  to  make  an  extensive  sacrifice  of  national  prejudices  in  or¬ 
der  to  relieve  the  government  from  the  standing  menace  which 
was  presented  by  our  appearance  at  Tientsin,  and  naval  occupa¬ 
tion  of  the  Peiho  to  that  point. 

The  opinion  recorded  by  Lord  Elgin  on  the  occasion  of  his  first 
arrival  in  China,  that  the  only  solution  of  the  problem,  as  it  then 
stood,  was  in  the  exercise  of  a  moral  pressure  of  this  description 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  capital,  was  now  in  process  of  justifi¬ 
cation.  By  these  means  alone  he  conceived  that,  without  in  any 
way  interfering  with  the  flourishing  trade  which,  in  spite  of  our 
misunderstanding  with  the  imperial  authorities  in  the  south,  was 
being  carried  on  at  the  ports,  and  any  interruption  to  which  would 
have  been  most  disastrous  to  our  commercial  interests,  the  great 
object  of  the  mission  he  had  undertaken  to  China  might  be  gain¬ 
ed,  and  a  lasting  and  satisfactory  treaty  effected.  But  it  had 
seemed  almost  hopeless  that,  with  the  limited  force  at  that  early 
period  at  his  disposal,  any  such  measure  could  ever  be  successful¬ 
ly  undertaken.  Baron  Gros  not  having  arrived,  the  French  sup¬ 
port  was  hypothetical.  An  army  of  scarce  2500  men,  still  on 
their  way  from  England,  and  the  naval  force  then  on  the  station, 
composed  the  entire  resources  upon  which  the  embassador  could 
depend  in  the  attempt  he  was  about  to  make  to  obtain  satisfac¬ 
tion  from  the  imperial  government,  and  extort  from  it  a  treaty  of 
a  more  extensive  scope  than  that  which  was  granted  to  Sir  Hen¬ 
ry  Pottinger  only  after  two  thirds  of  the  sea-board  had  been  rav¬ 
aged,  the  imperial  troops  repeatedly  vanquished,  and  the  princi- 


ITS  BEARING  ON  AEFAIRS  AT  CANTON. 


237 


pal  cities  of  tlie  empire  stormed  and  captured.  The  expenditure 
of  men  alone  upon  that  occasion,  from  sickness  and  other  causes, 
was  numerically  as  large  as  the  whole  force  with  which  greater 
results  were  now  to  be  achieved.  But  even  then  Lord  Elgin 
might  have  adhered  to  his  original  intention  of  proceeding  to  the 
north  as  soon  as  the  season  permitted  and  the  troops  arrived,  had 
not  the  conduct  of  affairs  at  Canton  produced  complications  of  so 
anomalous  and  intricate  a  nature  that,  upon  his  arrival  at  Hong 
Kong  in  September,  he  found  himself  compelled  to  abandon  his 
idea  of  a  northern  expedition,  and  to  devote  to  the  capture  and 
occupation  of  Canton  the  force  which  he  had  designed  for  Pekin. 

He  still  clung  to  the  hope,  however,  that  a  portion  of  it  might 
yet  prove  available  for  this  purpose,  and  the  object  of  his  visit  to 
Calcutta  was  so  far  gained  that  he  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  valu¬ 
able  re-enforcement  of  native  regiments.  He  farther  believed  that 
form  of  government  might  be  established  at  Canton  which  would 
facilitate  the  task  of  its  military  occupation,  and  enable  the  gener¬ 
al  to  spare  some  of  his  troops  for  service  in  the  north.  In  this 
expectation  he  was  not  disappointed:  by  the  Sampson,  which 
brought  up  the  engineers,  he  received  an  intimation  from  General 
Straubenzee  that,  if  more  troops  were  required,  they  could  be 
spared ;  and  on  the  4th  of  June,  on  the  very  day  of  the  first  in¬ 
terview  with  the  commissioners  above  described,  the  Fury  left  the 
Gulf  of  Pechelee  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  to  the  scene  of  nego¬ 
tiations  the  59th  regiment.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the 
timely  arrival  of  this  regiment  removed  from  the  imperial  mind 
the  last  shadow  of  doubt  as  to  the  necessity  of  concluding  the 
treaty.  In  a  word,  then,  the  policy  of  the  allied  plenipotentiaries, 
as  so  far  developed,  had  in  effect  placed  the  emperor  in  their 
grasp,  and  the  dynasty  itself  at  their  mercy,  without  in  any  way 
endangering  the  European  communities  at  the  ports,  or  even  dis¬ 
turbing  their  trade.  It  was,  indeed,  matter  for  congratulation  that 
they  had  at  last  succeeded  in  placing  themselves  in  this  favorable 
attitude  with  a  force  so  limited  and  hampered,  and  under  such  ad¬ 
verse  influences  generally.  It  may  be  readily  imagined  that  the 
five  weeks  we  passed  at  Tientsin  formed  a  most  cheerful  contrast 
to  the  same  period  spent  in  the  Gulf  of  Pechelee.  There  we  had 
more  than  once  utterly  despaired  of  ultimate  success ;  now  we  felt 
that,  though  disappointed  in  our  hopes  of  reaching  Pekin,  the 
doubts  and  anxieties  we  had  experienced  would  probably  be 
more  than  compensated  for  by  a  diplomatic  triumph. 


238 


THE  CHANCES  OF  A  POLITICAL  CAREER. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

The  Chances  of  a  Chinese  political  Career. — Arrival  of  Keying. — Interview  with 
him. — Adverse  Policy  of  Keying. — His  Hostility  to  the  Commissioners. — Proofs 
of  his  Insincerity. — Second  Interview  of  Messrs.  Wade  and  Lay. — Keying’s  Me¬ 
morial. — Keying’s  Treatment  of  Barbarians. — A  disagreeable  Expose. — Conse¬ 
quences  of  his  Offense. — Lenient  Sentence. — The  Emperor’s  Decree. — Keyings 
Suicide. 

A  few  days  after  the  incidents  recounted  in  the  last  chapter, 
an  episode  occurred  singularly  illustrative  of  the  vicissitudes  of 
Chinese  official  life,  and  of  the  dangers  to  which  those  are  exposed 
in  the  Celestial  Empire  who  are  either  u  born  to  greatness  or  have 
greatness  thrust  upon  them.”  The  account  which  has  been  al¬ 
ready  given  of  the  fortunes  of  Tan  exhibits,  in  a  striking  manner, 
the  dilemma  in  which  the  imperial  government  places  its  high 
functionaries  when  it  forces  them  under  the  severest  penalties 
to  accept  positions  from  which  it  is  morally  impossible  for  them 
to  escape  without  incurring  failure.  There  can  be  little  doubt 
that  the  imperial  government  often  appoints  a  man  to  an  office 
with  the  express  intention  that  he  should  serve  as  a  scapegoat, 
and  be  sacrificed  to  its  own  folly  or  incompetency.  The  system 
of  unscrupulously  immolating  innocent  subordinates  to  screen 
guilty  superiors  extends  through  the  whole  Chinese  official  life ; 
and  so  well  recognized  is  this  principle  among  them,  that,  in  the 
numerous  misunderstandings  our  authorities  have  had  with  the 
Chinese,  the  latter  have  invariably  sought  to  lay  the  blame  on  one 
of  our  own  inferior  officers,  with  a  view  of  enabling  the  superior 
to  retreat  with  honor  from  a  false  position,  should  he  desire  to  do 
so.  If,  however,  the  British  official  maintains  his  ground,  as  is 
commonly  the  case,  the  Chinese  gets  out  of  the  scrape  by  a  simi¬ 
lar  process. 

When  a  high  official  position  is  attended  with  these  inconven¬ 
iences,  it  will  readily  be  understood  that  intrigue  among  imperial 
officers  often  takes  a  precisely  opposite  direction  to  that  which  it 
commonly  assumes  in  Europe,  and  that,  so  far  from  attempting 
the  ruin  of  your  greatest  enemy  by  opposing  his  advancement, 
there  are  circumstances  under  which  a  Chinese  politician  can  most 
surely  gratify  his  revenge  by  procuring  his  nomination  to  an  im- 


ARRIVAL  OF  KEYING. 


289 


portant  and  hazardous  service,  the  refusal  of  which  would  entail 
the  same  extreme  penalty  which  will  he  the  result  of  his  inevi¬ 
table  failure.  Not  only  in  the  Chinese  world  of  fact,  but  in  their 
realms  of  fiction,  is  this  practice  used  to  point  the  moral  and  adorn 
the  tale ;  and  in  many  of  their  romances  the  interest  of  the  plot  is 
made  to  turn  upon  some  crisis  in  which  the  virtuous  hero  is  made 
the  victim  of  a  fatal  promotion. 

It  is  impossible  for  us  to  do  more  than  speculate  upon  the  se¬ 
cret  motives  which  may  have  induced  the  imperial  government  to 
nominate  Keying,  in  an  independent  capacity,  to  assist  in  the  set¬ 
tlement  of  the  barbarian  business.  That  this  appointment  was 
more  properly  due  to  the  able  intrigues  of  his  enemies  than  the 
ill-advised  efforts  of  his  friends  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that 
the  high  officers  who  first  moved  the  emperor  to  raise  him  from 
disgrace  and  employ  him  at  Tientsin,  were  the  first  to  denounce 
him  as  worthy  of  death  in  consequence  of  his  conduct  there ; 
though  it  must  be  remembered  that,  in  China,  the  only  chance 
which  the  man  who  recommends  an  incompetent  employe  has  of 
saving  his  own  head  is  to  be  the  first  to  denounce  his  nominee 
should  he  prove  a  failure. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  Lord  Elgin  was  not  a  little  surprised  to  re¬ 
ceive  an  intimation  from  the  old  friend  of  Sir  Henry  Pottinger, 
whose  name  is  most  familiar  to  English  ears  as  the  negotiator  of 
the  last  treaty,  and  who  contrived,  during  the  short  period  of  his 
intercourse  with  Europeans,  to  create  in  their  minds  so  high  an 
estimate  of  his  intelligence  and  good  faith,  announcing  his  arrival, 
but  not  stating  that  he  held  any  official  rank,  while  he  at  the  same 
time  requested  an  interview  with  the  embassador. 

Lord  Elgin  at  first  felt  somewhat  disposed  to  overlook  this  in-, 
formality  in  favor  of  a  man  whose  presence  at  the  scene  of  nego¬ 
tiations  might  appear  to  indicate  the  existence  of  a  strong  desire 
on  the  part  of  the  emperor  to  terminate  existing  difficulties  ami¬ 
cably.  The  reputation  which  Keying  had  earned  in  his  manage¬ 
ment  of  barbarian  business  had  been  founded  on  his  conciliatory 
treatment  of  them  ;  still,  we  were  in  possession  of  documents  in¬ 
validating  his  sincerity,  and  we  knew  that  his  conciliatory  policy 
had  led  to  his  disgrace.  Messrs.  Wade  and  Lay  were  therefore 
sent  in  to  express  Lord  Elgin’s  regret  at  not  being  able  to  accord 
him  an  interview,  and,  at  the  same- time,  to  observe  the  tendency 
manifested  in  his  tone  and  sentiments. 


240 


INTERVIEW  WITH  KEYING. 


They  found  an  old,  decrepit  mandarin,  half  blind,  and,  to  judge 
from  his  countenance,  sinking  into  his  dotage.  He  at  first  de¬ 
clared  that  he  recognized  Mr.  Lay,  and  that  gentleman  had  some 
difficulty  in  persuading  him  that  he  had  mistaken  him  for  his 
father.  Then  he  burst  into  tears  at  the  deplorable  position  of  the 
Celestial  Empire  generally,  and  of  himself  in  particular,  stating 
that  he  was  involved  in  a  difficulty  which  must  end  in  disaster 
to  himself.  Mr.  Wade  suspected  that  this  was  a  mere  theatrical 
effect.  Mr.  Lay  giving  him  credit  for  sincerity,  to  test  it,  Mr. 
Wade  assured  him  that  he  might  be  relieved  from  his  situation, 
as  he  had  no  doubt  Lord  Elgin  would  write  a  letter  peremptorily 
declining  intercourse  with  him,  which  would  be  his  justification  to 
the  imperial  court.  This,  however,  did  not  suit  the  crafty  Key¬ 
ing,  in  whose  senile  brain  some  cunning  still  remained,  and  he 
complained  that  we  were  placing  a  knife  to  the  throat  of  China 
and  a  pistol  to  its  head ;  and  gradually  let  it  appear  what  his 
opinion  was  on  this  subject  to  an  extent  which  convinced  our  en¬ 
voys  that  his  sentiments  were  distinctly  hostile,  so  that  he  was  re¬ 
quested  in  writing,  the  same  evening,  to  postpone  his  visit  for  a 
few  days.  Notwithstanding  this,  however,  on  the  day  following 
(the  10th),  Keying  had  the  perseverance  to  appear  at  the  gate  of 
the  yamun,  and  sent  in  his  card,  but  was,  of  course,  not  admitted. 
I  regretted  not  arriving  in  time  to  see  more  than  the  back  of  his 
chair  as  he  was  being  carried  away.  As  an  historical  personage, 
and  one  whose  tragical  end  has  since  invested  him  with  a  deeper 
interest,  Keying  was  a  man  worthy  of  having  been  noticed. 

It  may  readily  be  supposed  that  the  commissioners  Kweiliang 
and  Hwashana  did  not  regard  this  interloper  with  any  favorable 
eye.  The  only  definite. office  he  seemed  to  fill  at  first  was  that  of 
spy,  while  the  imperial  commission  which  he  managed  subse¬ 
quently  to  obtain  only  qualified  him  more  fully  to  put  in  prac¬ 
tice  the  resolution  he  at  once  manifested  of  thwarting  the  senior 
commissioners  in  every  thing  they  proposed.  We  were  inform¬ 
ed,  on  tolerably  good  Chinese  authority,  that  he  totally  dissented 
from  the  pacific  policy  by  which  they  were  actuated,  and  held 
the  most  pugnacious  language  with  reference  to  the  barbarians. 
To  this  he  might  have  been  impelled  by  two  motives.  In  the 
first  place,  his  independent  appointment  almost  necessarily  im¬ 
plied  that  he  was  expected  to  entertain  independent  views.  As 
the  views  of  his  colleagues  were  “peace  at  any  price,”  he  felt 


HIS  HOSTILITY  TO  THE  COMMISSIONERS. 


241 


bound  to  be  warlike  ;  and  be  the  more  readily  adopted  this  tone, 
as  he  had  himself,  in  his  former  dealings  with  us,  adopted  the 
“  peace  at  any  price”  policy,  and  had  remained  in  disgrace  ever 
since.  His  second  motive  was,  in  fact,  consequent  upon  this  ;  he 
regarded  the  present  as  the  only  opportunity  which  was  ever 
likely  to  be  afforded  him  of  retrieving  his  position,  by  becoming 
the  vigorous  advocate  of  a  policy  directly  antagonistic  to  that 
which  had  already  been  his  ruin :  could  he  only  show  that  Kwei- 
liang  and  Hwashana  were  pursuing  a  course  as  weak  and  tempor¬ 
izing  as  that  which,  in  the  opinion  of  the  imperial  government, 
had  characterized  his  own  diplomacy,  he  might  still  hope  to  clothe 
the  nakedness  of  his  present  disgrace  with  the  miserable  remnants 
of  the  robes  of  honor  he  had  torn  from  the  backs  of  his  colleagues. 

The  commissioners  finding  him  in  this  vein,  and  perceiving 
that  their  most  earnest  efforts  to  bring  about  a  satisfactory  adjust¬ 
ment  of  the  existing  difficulties  were  likely  to  be  frustrated  by  the 
determination  to  thwart  a  conciliatory  policy  manifested  by  Key¬ 
ing,  earnestly  requested  his  removal.  The  emperor,  however,  as 
he  himself  states  in  his  subsequent  decree  on  the  subject,  knowing 
that  he  (Keying)  must  be  aware  of  this,  and  lest  he  should  feel 
embarrassed  by  the  knowledge,  again  sent  him  orders  to  remain 
at  Tientsin.  But  Keying,  instead  of  taking  this  hint  to  pursue 
the  independent  policy  which  had  been  originally  indicated  to 
him,  suddenly  took  the  unexpected  and  indefensible  course  of  de¬ 
serting  his  post,  thereby  much  delighting  his  enemies,  and  draw¬ 
ing  upon  himself  the  serious  displeasure  of  his  imperial  master. 
In  order,  however,  to  comprehend  the  real  motive  which  induced 
him  to  adopt  this  unusual  and  fatal  line  of  conduct,  it  is  necessary 
to  explain  the  nature  of  the  interference  on  our  part,  to  which  we 
were  compelled  to  have  recourse. 

It  no  sooner  became  evident  to  the  embassador  that  Keying 
was  endeavoring  to  exert  an  influence  which,  if  successful,  would 
neutralize  the  good  dispositions  of  the  senior  commissioners,  and 
imperil  the  final  and  satisfactory  issue  of  the  negotiations  already 
commenced,  than  he  determined  to  remove  from  the  scene  one 
whose  presence  was  calculated  to  prove  a  serious  embarrassment, 
the  more  especially  as  he  had  been  furnished  with  unmistakable 
evidence  that  the  obstructive  tendencies  of  Keying  had  not  been 
exaggerated.  Fortunately,  among  the  papers  discovered  in  Yeh’s 
yamun  was  a  memorial  written  by  this  very  mandarin  to  the  em- 


242  SECOND  INTERVIEW  OF  MESSRS.  WADE  AND  LAY. 


peror  upon  the  subject  of  barbarian  affairs ;  and  the  tone  in  which 
that  document  was  conceived  furnished  Lord  Elgin  with  an  in¬ 
strument  which,  if  properly  used,  would  secure  his  removal  from 
the  present  commission.  It  was  considered  that  the  most  effective 
and  certain  way  of  accomplishing  this  desirable  result  would  be 
for  Messrs.  Wade  and  Lay  unexpectedly  to  produce  in  his  pres¬ 
ence  his  own  memorial,  and  read  it  aloud  for  the  benefit  of  him¬ 
self  and  his  colleagues.  Accordingly,  upon  the  11th,  or  the  day 
following  the  visit  of  Keying  to  the  yamun,  these  gentlemen  wait¬ 
ed  upon  the  commissioners.  Their  first  object  was  to  present  a 
letter  complaining  of  the  unsatisfactory  reply  which  the  commis¬ 
sioners  had  returned  to  a  confidential  communication  made  to 
them  by  the  embassador  upon  the  subject  of  the  propositions 
which  were  to  form  the  base  of  the  negotiations. 

Upon  entering  the  commissioners’  room,  Messrs.  Wade  and  Lay 
found  Keying  present,  apparently  associated  with  them  in  the  ca¬ 
pacity  of  colleague.  They  adverted  to  the  communication  already 
received  by  Lord  Elgin  as  differing  altogether  in  tone  and  spirit 
from  the  document  he  had  been  led  to  expect,  and  as  being  one 
altogether  impossible  to  be  received  by  him  as  the  base  for  future 
negotiations.  The  commissioners  insinuated,  as  broadly  as  it  was 
possible  for  them  to  do,  in  presence  of  Keying,  that  this  gentle¬ 
man  was  responsible  for  the  letter  in  question,  and  for  the  tone  in 
which  it  was  couched.  Messrs.  Wade  and  Lay  remarked  that, 
while  Lord  Elgin  did  not  conceive  himself  entitled  to  dictate  to 
the  emperor  on  the  subject  of  the  appointments  he  might  be  pleased 
to  make  to  the  imperial  commission,  it  was  clear  that  good  faith 
on  the  part  of  the  individuals  likely  to  be  engaged  in  the  pending 
negotiations  was  a  qualification  of  the  first  importance.  It  was 
evidently  not  in  the  interest  of  either  party  that  a  person  discred¬ 
ited  in  this  particular  should  be  associated  in  the  commission.  It 
would  be  for  the  commissioners  to  make  their  own  application  of 
this  principle  with  reference  to  the  document  which  they  now 
begged  to  produce,  the  authorship  of  which  it  was  not  necessary 
to  particularize,  as  it  was  attached  to  the  paper. 

The  circumstance  of  its  having  been  found  in  Yeh’s  yamun  at 
Canton  among  his  private  archives  imparted  an  additional  inter¬ 
est,  doubtless,  in  the  eyes  of  the  commissioners,  to  this  singular 
and  interesting  production  of  Keying.  The  following  document 
was  then  handed  to  the  senior  commissioners,  and  read  aloud  by 


KEYING’S  MEMORIAL. 


243 


Hwashana  in  a  subdued  tone,  Keying  being  present,  but  keeping 
well  in  the  background,  conscious  that  the  revelations  it  contained 
would  put  kis  command  of  countenance  to  the  test  should  he  seem 
to  pay  attention  to  its  contents: 

“  The  Supplementary  Memorial ,  detailing  the  peculiarities  of  the  Re¬ 
ceptions  of  the  barbarian  Envoys  of  different  nations ,  and  the  Auto¬ 
graph  (lit.,  Vermilion )  approval  of  his  Majesty  the  Emperor 

[The  date  of  this  Memorial  was  about  the  end  of  1850.] 

( Translation .) 

“  The  slave  Keying,  upon  his  knees,  presents  a  supplementary 
memorial  to  the  throne.  The  particulars  of  his  administration  of 
the  business  of  the  barbarian  states,  and  management*  of  barbari¬ 
an  envoys,  according  to  circumstances,  in  his  receptionsf  of  them, 
have  formed  the  subject  of  different  memorials  of  your  slave. 

“  The  supplementary  conditions  of  trade  having  been  also  ne¬ 
gotiated  by  him,  he  has  had  the  honor  to  submit  the  articles  con¬ 
taining  those  to  the  sacred  glance  of  your  majesty,  who  has  com¬ 
missioned  the  Board  of  Revenue  to  examine  and  report  upon 
them.  All  which  is  upon  record.  He  calls  to  mind,  however, 
that  it  was  in  the  seventh  moon  of  the  twenty -second  year  (Au¬ 
gust,  1842)  that  the  English  barbarians  were  pacified.  The  Ameri¬ 
cans  and  French  have  successively  followed  in  the  summer  and 
autumn  of  this  year  (1845).  In  this  period  of  three  years  barbari¬ 
an  matters  have  been  affected  by  many  conditions  of  change,  and 
in  proportion  as  these  have  been  various  in  character  has  it  be¬ 
come  necessary  to  shift  ground,  and  to  adopt  alterations  in  the 
means  by  which  they  were  to  be  conciliated  and  held  within 
range.J  They  must  be  dealt  with  justly,  of  course,  and  their  feel¬ 
ings  thus  appealed  to ;  but,  to  keep  them  in  hand,  stratagem  (or 
diplomacy)  is  requisite. 

11  In  some  instances  a  direction  must  be  given  them,  but  with¬ 
out  explanation  of  the  reason  why ;  in  some,  their  restlessness  can 
only  be  neutralized  by  demonstrations  which  disarm  (lit.,  dissolve) 
their  suspicions ;  in  some,  they  have  to  be  pleased,  and  moved  to 
gratitude  by  concession  of  intercourse  on  a  footing  of  equality ; 

*  Lit.,  riding  and  reining.  f  Receptions  of  them  as  inferiors  in  rank. 

I  Conciliated — lit.,  pacified,  as  a  person  or  an  animal  that  is  wild,  and  comforted. 
Kept  within  range — lit.,  tethered. 


244 


KEYING’S  MEMOKIAL. 


and  in  some,  before  a  result  can  be  brought  about,  their  falsity  has 
to  be  blinked,  nor  must  an  estimate  (of  their  facts)  be  pressed  too 
far. 

“  Bred  and  born  in  the  foreign  regions  beyond  (its  boundary), 
there  is  much  in  the  administration  of  the  Celestial  dynasty  that 
is  not  perfectly  comprehensible  to  the  barbarians,  and  they  are 
continually  putting  forced  constructions  on  things,  of  which  it  is 
difficult  to  explain  to  them  the  real  nature.  Thus  the  promulga¬ 
tion  of  the  imperial  decree  (lit.,  silken  sounds)  devolves  on  the 
members  of  the  great  council,  but  the  barbarians  respect  them  as 
being  the  autograph  reply  of  your  majesty ;  and  were  they  given 
to  understand  positively  that  (the  decrees)  are  not  in  the  hand¬ 
writing  of  your  majesty  at  all,  (so  far  from  respecting  them),  there 
would,  on  the  contrary,  be  nothing  in  which  their  confidence 
would  be  secure. 

u  The  meal  which  the  barbarians  eat  together  they  call  ta-tsan 
(dinner).*  It  is  a  practice  they  delight  in  to  assemble  a  number 
of  people  at  a  great  entertainment,  at  which  they  eat  and  drink  to¬ 
gether.  When  your  slave  has  conferred  honor  upon  (has  given 
a  dinner  to)  the  barbarians  at  the  Bogue  or  Macao,  their  chiefs 
and  leaders  have  come  together  to  the  number  of  from  ten  to 
twenty  or  thirty ;  and  when,  in  process  of  time,  your  slave  has 
chanced  to  go  to  barbarian  residencesf  or  barbarian  ships,  they 
have,  in  their  turn,  seated  themselves  round  in  attendance  upon 
him,  striving  who  should  be  foremost  in  offering  him  meat  and 
drink.  To  gain  their  good-will,  he  could  not  do  otherwise  than 
share  their  cup  and  spoon. 

“Another  point :  It  is  the  wont  of  the  barbarians  to  make  much 
of  their  women.  Whenever  their  visitor  is  a  person  of  distinc¬ 
tion,  the  wife  is  sure  to  come  out  and  receive  him.  In  the  case 
of  the  American  barbarian  Parker,  and  the  French  barbarian  La- 
grene,  for  instance,  both  of  these  have  brought  their  foreign  wives 
with  them ;  and  when  your  slave  has  gone  to  the  barbarian  res¬ 
idences  on  business,  their  foreign  women  have  suddenly  appeared 
and  saluted  him.  Your  slave  was  confounded^:  and  ill  at  ease, 

*  The  word  used  by  our  Canton  servants  for  dinner :  the  great  meal. 

t  The  word  lan ,  loft  or  story,  is  not  that  applied  to  the  dwelling-houses  of  Chi¬ 
nese.  The  mandarins  use  it  specially  when  speaking  to  their  own  people  of  our 
houses. 

t  Confounded,  almost  awe-stricken,  as  Confucius  is  described  to  have  been  in  the 
presence  of  his  ruler. 


KEYING’S  MEMORIAL. 


245 


while  they,  on  the  contrary,  were  greatly  delighted  at  the  honor 
done  them.  The  truth  is,  as  this  shows,  that  it  is  not  possible  to 
regulate  the  customs  of  the  W estern  states  by  the  ceremonial  of 
China ;  and  to  break  out  in  rebuke,  while  it  would  do  nothing  to¬ 
ward  their  enlightenment  (lit.,  to  cleave  their  dullness),  might 
chance  to  give  rise  to  suspicion  and  ill-feeling. 

u  Again,  ever  since  amicable  relations  with  them  commenced, 
the  different  barbarians  have  been  received  on  something  of  a 
footing  of  equality.  One  such  interview  is  no  longer  a  novelty ; 
it  becomes  more  than  ever  a  duty  to  keep  them  off  and  to  shut 
them  out.  To  this  end,  on  every  occasion  that  a  treaty  has  been 
negotiated  with  a  barbarian  state,  your  slave  has  directed  Hwang 
Aw-tung,  Commissioner  of  Finance,  to  desire  its  envoy  to  take 
notice  that  a  high  officer  in  China,  administering  foreign  affairs,  is 
never  at  liberty  to  give  or  receive  any  thing  on  his  private  ac¬ 
count.  That,  as  to  presents,  he  would  be  obliged  peremptorily  to 
decline  them;  were  they  to  be  accepted,  and  the  fact  concealed, 
the  ordinances  of  the  Celestial  dynasty  on  the  subject  are  very 
stringent;  and,  to  say  nothing  of  the  injury  he  would  inflict  on 
the  dignity  of  his  office,  it  would  be  hard  (for  the  offender)  to  es¬ 
cape  the  penalty  of  the  law.  The  barbarian  envoys  have  had  the 
sense  to  attend  to  this ;  but  in  their  interviews  with  him  they  have 
sometimes  offered  your  slave  foreign  wines,  perfumery,  and  other 
like  matters,  of  very  small  value.  Their  intention  being  more  or 
less  good,  he  could  not  well  have  rejected  them  altogether,  and  to 
their  face ;  but  he  has  confined  himself  to  bestowing  on  them  snuff- 
bottles,  purses,  and  such  things  as  are  carried  on  the  person,  there¬ 
by  putting  in  evidence  the  Chinese  principle  of  giving  much,  al¬ 
though  but  little  has  been  received.*  Again,  on  the  application 
of  the  Italians,  English,  Americans,  and  French,  your  slave  has 
presented  them  with  a  copy  of  his  insignificant  portrait. 

u  To  come  to  their  government. f  Though  every  state  has  one, 
there  are  rulers,  male  or  female,  holding  office  permanently  for 
the  time  being.  With  the  English  barbarians,  for  instance,  the 
ruler  is  a  female,  and  with  the  French  and  Americans,  a  male. 
The  English  and  French  ruler  reigns  for  life;  the  American  is 
elected  by  his  countrymen,  and  is  changed  once  in  four  years,  and 

*  Thus,  according  to  the  second  of  the  Confucian  books,  should  it  be  between  the 
ruler  and  the  nobles  dependent  on  him. 

t  Lit.,  their  sovereign  seniors. 


246 


KEYING’S  MEMORIAL. 


when  he  retires  from  his  throne  he  takes  rank  with  the  people 
(the  non-official  classes). 

“  Their  official  designations  are  also  different  in  the  case  of  each 
nation.  To  represent  these,  they  for  the  most  part  appropriate 
(lit.,  filch)  Chinese  characters,  boastfully  affecting  a  style  to  which 
they  have  no  claim,  and  assuming  the  airs  of  a  great  power.  That 
they  should  conceive  that  they  thereby  do  honor  to  their  rulers  is 
no  concern  of  ours ;  while,  if  the  forms  observed  toward  the  de¬ 
pendencies  (of  China)  were  to  be  prescribed  as  the  rule  in  their 
case,  they  would  certainly  not  consent,  as  they  neither  accept  the 
Chinese  computation*  of  time,  nor  receive  your  majesty’s  patent 
(of  royalty),  to  fall  back  to  the  rank  of  Cochin-China  or  Lewchew. 
And  with  people  so  uncivilized  as  they  are,  blindly  unintelligent 
in  styles  and  modes  of  address,  a  tenacity  in  forms  of  official  cor¬ 
respondence,  such  as  would  duly  place  the  superior  above  and  the 
inferior  below,  would  be  the  cause  of  a  fierce  altercation  (lit.,  a 
rising  of  the  tongue  and  a  blistering  of  the  lips) :  the  only  course, 
in  that  case,  would  be  to  affect  to  be  deaf  to  it  (lit.,  to  be  as  though 
the  earlap  stopped  the  ear) ;  personal  intercourse  would  then  be¬ 
come  impossible ;  and  not  only  this,  but  an  incompatibility  of  re¬ 
lations  would  immediately  follow,  of  any  thing  but  advantage 
certainly  to  the  essential  question  of  conciliation. f  Instead,  there¬ 
fore,  of  a  contest  about  unsubstantial  names,  which  can  produce 
no  tangible  result,  (it  has  been  held)  better  to  disregard  these  minor 
details,  in  order  to  the  success  of  an  important  policy. 

“Such  are  the  expedients  and  modifications  which,  after  close 
attention  to  the  barbarian  affairs,  a  calculation  of  the  exigencies 
of  the  period,  and  a  careful  estimate  of  the  merits  of  the  question, 
as  being  trivial  or  of  importance,  admitting  of  delay  or  demand¬ 
ing  dispatch,  it  has  been  found  unavoidable  to  adopt.  Your  slave 
has  not  ventured  to  intrude  them  one  by  one  upon  the  sacred 
intelligence,  partly  because  they  were  of  themselves  of  small  sig¬ 
nificance,  partly  because  there  was  no  timej  (so  to  report  them). 
The  barbarian  business  being  now  on  the  whole  (lit.,  in  the  rough) 
concluded,  as  in  duty  bound,  he  states  them  detailedly,  one  and 

*  Lit. ,  the  first  and  last  moons  of  the  year,  as  computed  by  China,  who  issues  her 
calendar  to  Corea,  if  not  to  her  other  dependencies.  The  sovereigns  of  Corea,  Lew- 
chew,  and  Cochin-China  are  invested  by  a  Chinese  envoy,  and  receive  a  patent  from 
their  emperor  as  their  suzerain. 

f  As  in  note  J,  p.  243. 


J  He  had  to  act  at  once. 


KEYING’S  TREATMENT  OF  BARBARIANS.  247 

all,  in  this  supplementary  dispatch,  which  he  respectfully  presents 
to  your  majesty.” 


u  Reply  in  the  Vermilion  Pencil. 

“It  was  the  only  proper  arrangement  to  have  made.  We  un¬ 
derstand  the  whole  question.” 

While  Hwashana  was  reading  this  production,  his  attention  was 
more  particularly  directed  to  those  passages  which  discuss  so  elab¬ 
orately  the  various  descriptions  of  “  stratagem”  which  Keying  was 
in  the  habit  of  resorting  to  in  order  “  to  keep  the  barbarians  in 
hand.” 

So  long  as  this  controller  of  barbarians  was  associated  with  the 
commission,  it  was  evident  that  it  would  be  incumbent  upon  us 
to  watch  narrowly  which  mode  of  treatment  he  was  applying; 
whether  “  a  direction  was  being  given  to  us  without  explanation 
of  the  reason  why ;”  or  whether  “  our  restlessness  was  being  neu¬ 
tralized  by  demonstrations  which  disarmed  our  suspicions;”  or 
whether  this  was  one  of  those  occasions  in  which  we  were  “to  be 
pleased  and  moved  to  gratitude  by  concession  of  intercourse  on 
a  footing  of  equality ;”  or  whether  the  crisis  was  so  eminent  that 
our  “falsity  was  to  be  blinded,  and  the  estimate  of  our  facts  not 
pressed  too  far.”  Whatever  be  the  mode  of  treatment,  he  does 
not  for  a  moment  leave  us  in  doubt  as  to  its  object.  “  Once  such 
an  intercourse  (on  a  footing  of  equality)  is  established,  it  becomes 
more  than  ever  a  duty  to  keep  them  off  and  to  shut  them  out.” 
ISTor  was  his  chuckle  upon  our  gullibility  with  reference  to  the 
imperial  autograph  lost  upon  us. 

Hwashana  and  Kweiliang  looked  somewhat  abashed  when  they 
had  concluded  this  dissertation  upon  the  “blindly  unintelligent” 
race  of  barbarians  with  whom  they  were  at  that  moment  negotia¬ 
ting,  and  Keying  requested  to  be  allowed  to  see  the  paper,  for  the 
quiet  perusal  of  which  he  retired  into  a  corner.  Meantime  our  en¬ 
voys  informed  the  imperial  commissioners  that  the  best  way  of  es¬ 
tablishing  confidence  in  Lord  Elgin’s  mind  with  reference  to  their 
good  faith  was  to  send  in  at  once  the  letter  containing  the  propo¬ 
sitions  originally  agreed  upon  as  the  base  of  negotiations.  They 
farther  stated  their  intention  of  waiting  in  the  yamun  until  it  was 
signed  and  sealed,  which  they  accordingly  did,  and  it  was  not  until 
10  P.M.  that  they  finally  took  leave,  with  the  precious  document, 


248 


CONSEQUENCES  OF  KEYING’S  OFFENSE. 


signed  by  Kweiliang,  Hwashana,  and  Keying,  in  their  possession. 
It  was  doubtless  in  allusion  to  this  communication  that  Keying 
states,  in  the  memorial  to  the  emperor  containing  his  defense,  that 
when,  after  consultation  with  Kweiliang  and  Hwashana,  it  was 
agreed  that  a  dispatch  should  be  written,  “they  wept  together 
beneath  the  window ;  they  knew  not  in  the  morning  that  they 
should  not  die  by  night.” 

Two  days  after  this  it  was  that,  finding  himself  discredited  by 
us  before  his  colleagues,  to  whom  he  was  personally  obnoxious, 
and  who  would  gladly  avail  themselves  of  the  weapon  we  had 
placed  in  their  hands,  and  perceiving  that  it  was  impossible  to  pur¬ 
sue  the  obstructive  and  independent  policy  he  was  expected  to . 
adopt,  Keying  determined  suddenly  to  return  to  Pekin,  prefacing 
the  step  with  a  memorial  to  the  emperor,  stating  only  that  he  had 
“propositions  of  importance  to  submit.”  Before  he  reached  the 
capital,  however,  he  received  an  order  to  return  to  his  post.  In¬ 
stead  of  obeying  this  command,  he,  to  use  the  words  of  the  em¬ 
peror,  “could  not  take  himself  out  of  the  way  fast  enough.”  This 
was  the  head  and  front  of  Keying’s  offense.  Thus  conscience 
made  a  coward  of  him.  Had  the  emperor  read  Shakspeare,  he 
probably  would  not  have  asked,  in  passing  sentence  on  him,  “Had 
Keying  any  conscience,  would  the  sweat  have  flowed  down  his 
back  or  not  ?”  But  so  it  happened  that  instead  of  bearing  the 
ills  he  had,  the  unhappy  mandarin  fled  to  others  that  he  knew 
not  of. 

Rumors  were  shortly  after  rife  at  Tientsin,  first  of  the  degrada¬ 
tion,  and  then  of  the  death  of  Keying ;  but  the  first  authentic  inti¬ 
mation  we  received  of  the  severity  of  the  punishment  which  was 
awarded  him  was  from  the  following  extract  from  the  Pekin  Ga¬ 
zette,  which  reached  us  on  the  8d  of  July,  or  about  three  days 
prior  to  our  leaving  Tientsin. 

Not  previously  aware  of  the  circumstances  under  which  he  had 
been  appointed  to  meet  us,  or  supplied  with  every  link  in  the 
chain  of  events  detailed  in  the  foregoing  pages,  we  were  much 
shocked  at  the  tragical  end  of  one  who  had  so  recently  been 
among  us,  and  whose  conduct,  though  weak  and  vacillating, 
scarcely  seemed  to  deserve  death  by  suicide ;  nor,  indeed,  in  so 
far  as  we  are  acquainted  with  the  whole  of  his  offending,  does 
there  seem  any  proportion  between  the  guilt  and  the  punishment. 
How  little  could  we  imagine  that  the  objection  taken  to  Keying 


THE  EMPEROR’S  DECREE. 


249 


as  an  imperial  commissioner  should  even  indirectly  have  been  tlie 
cause  of  that  fatal  decree,  the  last  sentence  of  which  contains  so 
painful  a  satire  upon  justice  and  mercy;  for  certain  officers,  hav¬ 
ing  desired  Keying  to  read  the  decree,  are  commanded  to  inform 
him  “that  it  is  our  will  that  he  put  an  end  to  himself,  that  our 
extreme  desire  to  be  at  once  just  and  gracious  be  made  manifest.” 
In  a  country  where  the  highest  attributes  of  divinity  find  such  a 
manifestation,  it  is  no  very  violent  presumption  to  suppose  that 
the  fate  of  Keying  was  determined  upon  when  he  was  first  order¬ 
ed  to  proceed  to  Tientsin,  and  that,  whatever  his  conduct  there 
might  have  been,  it  would  always  have  furnished  the  excuse  de¬ 
sired  by  his  enemies  of  causing  his  public  execution,  a  sentence 
which  the  emperor  hypocritically  modified  by  that  parody  upon 
leniency  contained  in  the  last  clause,  which  commutes  the  public 
execution  to  private  suicide. 

u  Autograph  Decree. 

u  On  receipt  of  a  memorial  by  the  Prince  of  Hwui*  and  others, 
praying  that  Keying’s  offense  should  be  followed  by  instant  pun¬ 
ishment  as  under  martial  law,  we  commanded  that  he  should  be 
brought  to  the  capital  and  subjected  to  rigorous  examination. 
When  put  on  his  trial,  he  tendered  his  statement  in  defense,  and 
we  then  directed  the  Prince  of  Kungf  and  others  to  decide  and 
award  with  equity.  They  now  find  that,  in  not  awaiting  our 
commands,  Keying  acted  with  stupidity  and  precipitancy,  and 
they  sentenced  him  to  be  strangled  after  imprisonment  until  the 
Imperial  Assize,^  when  his  crime  is  to  be  entered  among  those 
not  to  be  forgiven.  Their  award,  certainly,  is  none  other  than  a 
correct  one.  Still,  as  the  terms  in  which  they  describe  his  trans¬ 
gression  by  no  means  define  the  criminality  of  his  heart,  §  it  is  in¬ 
cumbent  on  us  to  give  full  publicity  [to  the  facts]. 

*  Mien  Yii,  brother  of  the  late  Emperor  Mien  Ning,  the  style  of  whose  reign  was 
Tau  Kwang. 

f  Yih  Su,  brother  of  the  reigning  emperor,  who  was  associated  with  Yih  Tsung, 
another  brother,  and  the  adopted  son  of  the  emperor’s  uncle,  in  the  trial. 

X  A  list  of  criminal  cases  is  submitted  once  a  year  to  the  emperor.  The  prisoners 
whose  names  are  without  a  certain  mark  made  upon  it  by  the  emperor  escape  with 
life ;  those  within  the  mark  die.  The  term  here  rendered  Imperial  Assize  is  ap¬ 
plied  to  this  rehearing  of  cases  tried  in  the  capital ;  cases  heard  in  the  provinces  are 
revised  at  the  Autumnal  Assize. 

§  Lit.,  are  certainly  not  a  description  of  it  that  cuts  the  heart  open  :  a  classical 
expression  elsewhere  paraphrased  as  the  offense  of  u  deceiving  the  sovereign,  and  so 


250 


THE  EMPEROR’S  DECREE. 


“  When  Keying,  being  at  the  time  an  officer  in  disgrace,  was 
again  lifted  np  to  be  employed,  it  was  onr  hope  that  he  would  ex¬ 
ert  himsel  f  to  make  a  reputation  in  his  declining  years,  and  would 
competently  perform  the  service  needed  in  the  matter  [then  before 
us].  When  he  had  his  audience  to  take  leave,  his  words  were, 

‘  The  powers  of  your  slave  are  scarcely  equal  to  his  charge,  but 
he  will  see  what  his  fortune  is language  that  betokened  neither 
numbness  of  conscience*  nor  failing  intelligence.  On  the  27th  of 
the  4th  moon  (8th  June),  a  letter  from  the  council]*  followed  him 
to  Tientsin,  by  which  he  was  instructed  that  he  need  not  associate 
himself  with  Kweiliang  and  his  colleague,  nor  be  bound  by  forms 
in  any  way,];  to  the  end  that  he  might  follow  up  any  step  of  theirs 
by  the  measures  his  own  policy  might  require.  It  can  not  be 
said  that  the  position  we  gave  him  was  other  than  independent, 
or  that  our  gracious  support  of  him  was  short  of  considerable. 
When  Kweiliang  and  his  colleague  moved  us  to  recall  him,  we 
assumed  that  he  must  be  aware  of  this.  Still,  lest  he  might  be 
somewhatg — a  letter  was  sent  from  the  council  instructing  him  to 
remain  at  Tientsin,  and  take  counsel  for  himself.  Had  Keying 
had  any  conscience,  would  the  sweat  have  flowed  down  his  back 
or  not?]  That  officer,  however,  having  dispatched^"  a  memorial 
to  us,  takes  on  himself  to  return  to  the  capital,  his  plea  being  that 
he  has  propositions  of  importance  to  submit  to  us.  If  so,  why 
did  he  not  address  us  a  confidential  memorial  in  his  single  name  ? 
He  adds  that  there  is  matter  that  can  not  well  appear  in  writing. 
Then  why,  when  he  [subsequently]  received  the  decree  to  the  ef¬ 
fect  that  it  was  our  pleasure  he  should  stay  at  Tientsin,  did  he 


causing  damage  to  the  state’s  interest;”  treason,  in  short.  One  Chinese  under¬ 
stands  it,  “  their  finding  does  not  show  him  guilty  of  the  treason  he  has  committed.” 

*  Lit.,  dimness. 

f  These  letters  are  what  we  call  imperial  decrees.  They  are  drawn  up  under  in¬ 
struction  of  the  emperor,  and  transmitted  through  the  council  to  those  whom  they 
concern. 

t  Lit.,  not  to  grasp  the  mud,  stand  on  ceremony.  Properly,  as  junior,  he  would 
have  subscribed  to  the  proposals  of  the  senior  commissioners,  but  he  was  authorized, 
“as  exponent  of  his  own  policy,  to  take  the  second  step,”  the  other  commissioners 
having  taken  the  first. 

§  There  is  an  omission  here  of  two  characters,  if  not  more. 

||  This  is  a  classical  expression,  the  parentage  of  which  obliges  it  to  indicate,  not 
as  we  should  have  supposed,  great  exertion,  but  the  sense  of  shame  experienced  when 
our  little  merits  receive  bounteous  consideration. 

®t[  Lit. ,  having  adored,  prostrated  himself  before  the  memorial  about  to  be  sent. 


THE  EMPEROR’S  DECREE. 


251 


hurriedly  prepare  another  memorial?  And  what  is  there,  after 
all,  of  moment,  either  in  his  memorials  or  in  his  defense  ?  In  all 
the  irrelevancy  which  time  after  time  he  has  obtruded  upon  us, 
his  sole  calculation  is  [the  safety  of]  his  own  head.  The  total  ab¬ 
sence  of  available  suggestions  in  the  memorials  and  defense  of 
this  officer,  again,  might  be  held,  had  he  not  been  deep  in  the  se¬ 
cret,  to  be  over-harshly  visited  by  the  law.  But  it  is  known  that 
the  measure  he  names  had  been  long  since  considered  by  us  with 
our  servants.  Besides,  what  might  have  come  from  another  with 
propriety  could  not  with  propriety  come  from  Keying.  Why  so  ? 
Because  he  was  art  and  part  of*  the  administration  [of  this  ques¬ 
tion],  and  was  free  to  carry  out  any  views  of  his  own.  How  was 
it,  then,  that,  unprovided  with  measures  suppeditative  or  remedial 
while  acting  with  others,  he  was  only  ready  with  the  right  sug¬ 
gestion  after  the  event  ? 

“  Had  we  but  punished  this  officer  as  he  humbly  prayed  we 
would,  we  had  indeed  fallen  into  [the  snare  of]  his  machinations. 
For  [in  that  prayer]  Keying  has  plainly  declared  himself.  Hot 
only  [does  he  imply  that]  his  former  offense  had  been  complete¬ 
ly  washed  away,  but  he  seeks  to  lay  blame  on  others ;  an  inten¬ 
tion  yet  more  to  his  disgrace. f  He  had  fancied  that,  for  unau- 
thorizedly  relinquishing  his  commission,  dismissal  from  the  serv¬ 
ice  would  be  all  the  penalty  awarded  him,  and,  this  end  attained, 
he  would  have  enjoyed  himself  at  home.  With  the  obligation 
laid  upon  him  by  long  recognition  of  his  little  merit  (lit.,  dullness, 
sc .,  his  employment  in  spite  of  it),  should  such  a  conception  have 
been  tolerable  to  him?  Hor  is  this  all,  when  his  thoughts  are 
unraveled.];  When,  after  consultation  with  Kweiliang  and  Hwa- 
shana,  it  was  agreed  that  a  dispatch§  should  be  written,  ‘they 
wept  together  beneath  the  window;]  they  knew  not  in  the  morn- 

*  Lit.,  in  the  game,  in  the  plot,  on  the  committee.  He  flies  from  Tientsin  on  the 
plea  that  he  has  an  important  suggestion  to  make  which  he  dare  not  write ;  yet  he 
writes,  and  his  suggestion  proves  of  no  value ;  nor  is  it  a  novel  one,  as  he  well  knew. 
This  suggestion,  say  all  Chinese  expositors  consulted,  was  w’ar,  which  it  must  be  in¬ 
ferred  he  was  at  liberty  to  resort  to. 

f  Lit.,  still  less  can  his  heart  be  inquired  of.  Man  should  be  so  that,  “  when  he 
inquires  of  his  heart,  he  finds  nothing  to  he  ashamed  of.” 

X  Lit.,  [when  wre  follow]  the  track,  or  footprints  of  his  heart. 

§  Dispatch  or  communication,  probably  one  addressed  to  Lord  Elgin  two  days  be¬ 
fore  Keying  disappeared  from  Tientsin. 

||  A  common  phrase  applied  to  men  consulting  or  studying  together.  It  does  not 
appear  whether  the  emperor  learned  this  from  Keying’s  dispatches  or  elsewhere. 


252 


THE  EMPEROR’S  DECREE. 


ing  that  they  should  not  die  by  night.’  But  we  do  not  learn  that, 
in  devout  obedience  to  our  will  as  earlier  expressed,  he  then  de¬ 
vised  any  worthier  expedient  of  his  own.* * * §  By-and-by  he  ob¬ 
served  to  Hwashana  that  he  feared  his  departure  from  Tientsin 
might  disturb  the  population,  and  he  would  therefore  pretend 
that  he  was  moving  thence  for  a  while  on  business.  But  though, 
on  arriving  at  Tung-chau,  he  received  the  later  letter  of  the  coun¬ 
cil  [desiring  him  to  return],  we  do  not  learn  that  he  hastened 
back  [to  his  post ;  on  the  contrary],  he  could  not  take  himself  out 
of  the  way  fast  enough.  He  treated  our  commands  as  a  thing 
of  course  to  be  dispensed  with.f  Full  of  intrigue,  bent  on  deceit, 
could  a  hundred  voices  excuse  him  from  immediate  annihila¬ 
tion?]: 

“The  [sentence  proposed  in  the]  original  memorial  of  the 
Prince  of  Hwui  and  his  colleagues  was,  nevertheless,  too  severe ; 
neither  was  the  memorial  of  [the  Censor]  Suhshun,  again,  propos¬ 
ing  his  immediate  execution,  as  it  should  be.  Our  object  in  hand¬ 
ing  him  over  to  our  servants  in  the  capital§  for  trial  was  to  have 
the  circumstances  of  so  grave  an  offense  duly  weighed  by  them, 
and  a  sentence  deliberately  pronounced,  for  the  edification  of  all. 
If  we  were  still  to  have  approved  his  summary  execution,  what 
need  was  there  for  bringing  him  to  the  capital  ?  What  need,  to 
go  farther,  for  [the  formality  of]  a  finding  and  sentence  ?  Then 
the  remark  [in  one  memorial],  that  ‘if  left  for  some  months  he 
might  die  a  natural  death,  and  so  escape  with  his  head,’  is  even 
more  out  of  order.  ||  Such  words  belong  to  sentences  passed  on 
malefactors  (lit.,  robbers).  They  could  not,  without  serious  im¬ 
propriety,  be  applied  to  Keying. 

“We  have  bestowed  great  attention  [upon  his  case]  for  several 
days,  seeking  to  spare  his  life ;  but,  indeed,  it  is  impossible ;  and 
were  we  to  reserve  him,  as  Yih  Su  and  his  colleagues^  propose, 
for  the  Great  Assize,  then  certainly  to  suffer,  we  feel  that  [when 
the  time  came]  we  could  not  endure  to  leave  him  in  the  market- 

*  Lit.,  separately  or  distinctly,  that  is,  from  his  colleagues. 

f  Lit.,  as  a  cap-hair ;  the  tuft  of  hair  formerly  thrown  away  when  the  cap  of 
manhood  was  assumed ;  a  thing  to  be  rejected,  and  rejected  of  course. 

X  An  expression  that  would  include  his  family  in  the  act  of  destruction. 

§  That  is  to  say,  by  the  chief  members  of  the  administration. 

II  Lit.,  then  the  remark — is  a  finding  [in  cases  between  which  and  the  present  there 
is]  even  less  analogy.  It  could  not  wantonly,  or  at  random,  be  applied  to  Keying. 
Colloquially,  it  would  never  do.  etc.  Yih  Su,  see  note  f,  p.  249. 


KEYING’S  SUICIDE. 


253 


place.*  In  this  dilemma,  having  given  all  our  thought  to  a  due 
appreciation  of  the  facts  and  a  just  apportionment  of  the  law,  we 
command  Jinshau,  senior  tsung-ching ,  and  Mien  Hiun,  senior  tsung- 
jin ,  of  the  imperial  Clan  Court,  f  with  Linkwei,  President  of  the 
Board  of  Punishments,  to  go  at  once  to  the  Empty  House  of  the 
Clan  Court,  &nd,  haying  desired  Keying  to  read  [this]  our  auto¬ 
graph  decree,  to  inform  him  that  it  is  our  will  that  he  put  an  end 
to  himself,  that  our  extreme  desire  to  be  at  once  just  and  gracious 

be  made  manifest.  Respect  this !” 

> 

We  were  informed,  upon  good  authority,  before  leaving  Tien¬ 
tsin,  that  the  punishment  here  awarded  had  been  actually  carried 
out,  Keying  haying  drunk  a  cup  of  poison  in  the  presence  of  the 
imperial  officers  nominated  to  enforce  it.  Thus  perished  by  his 
own  hand  this  celebrated  mandarin,  whose  signature,  attached  to 
the  Treaty  of  Nankin  exactly  fifteen  years  before,  had  secured  for 
him  a  political  notoriety  in  Europe  greater  than  had  ever  previ¬ 
ously  been  accorded  to  a  Chinaman,  and  the  tragical  termination 
of  whose  career  must  ever  invest  his  name  with  a  yet  more  sig¬ 
nificant  and  touching  interest. 

% 

*  Like  a  common  criminal. 

f  The  tsung-jin-fu ,  or  imperial  Clan  Court,  is  an  office  charged  specially  with  the 
registration,  payment,  and  jurisdiction  of  the  imperial  family  in  all  its  branches. 
The  Empty  House  mentioned  just  below  is  the  prison  of  this  establishment. 


254 


INSOLENCE  OF  THE  MOB. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Insolence  of  the  Mob. — A  forcible  Entry  into  Tientsin. — Making  Reprisals. — Hostile 
Crowds. — Peaceful  Proclamations. — Plan  of  the  City  of  Tientsin. — Aspect  of  the 
City. — The  Traffic  in  the  Streets.— Declining  Trade  of  Tientsin. — Notice  concern¬ 
ing  the  Grain  Supply. — Present  State  of  the  Grand  Canal. — Official  Expenditure 
of  Grain. — Collection  of  the  Grain-tribute. — State  of  the  Yellow  River. — Obstruc¬ 
tions  in  its  Navigation. — Grain  Transport  by  Sea. — Report  on  the  Grand  Canal. — 
Price  of  Rice  at  Tientsin. — Table  showing  Proceeds  of  Grain-tax. — Trade  of  Tien¬ 
tsin. — Squalor  of  the  Inhabitants. — Burial-places. — Total  Allied  Force  at  Tientsin. 
— Exploration  of  the  surrounding  Country. — The  Harvest  at  Tientsin. — Kitchen- 
gardens. — Salt-pans. — Vetch-fields. — Locust-hunting. 

Our  suspicions  of  the  hostile  character  of  Keying’s  interference, 
alluded  to  in  the  last  chapter,  had  received  a  somewhat  singular 
confirmation  in  the  altered  demeanor  manifested  by  the  inhabit¬ 
ants  within  two  or  three  days  after  his  arrival.  Up  to  that  time 
nothing  could  exceed  the  respectful  bearing  of  all  classes  with 
whom  we  had  come  in  contact  in  the  course  of  our  rides  and 
walks  through  the  city  and  suburbs.  Upon  the  very  day,  how¬ 
ever,  of  the  visit  of  Messrs.Wade  and  Lay  to  the  commissioners’ 
yamun,  just  described,  the  admiral,  accompanied  by  two  or  three 
naval  officers,  was  pelted  and  hooted  at  by  the  populace  while 
walking  in  one  of  the  suburbs.  This  was  a  course  of  proceeding 
on  their  part  altogether  unexpected ;  and  our  astonishment  was 
increased  on  the  following  afternoon  by  the  sudden  appearance  in 
our  yamun  of  Captains  Dew  and  Saumarez  in  a  state  of  some  ex¬ 
citement,  the  former  hatless,  and  grasping  a  large  stick,  the  batter¬ 
ed  condition  of  which  gave  evidence  of  some  recent  violent  ren¬ 
counter.  It  appeared  that,  while  walking  quietly  inside  the  city, 
near  one  of  the  gates,  they  were  pelted  and  hooted,  and  ultimately 
attacked  by  the  mob,  who,  however,  entertained  too  great  a  respect 
for  barbarian  prowess  to  press  them  very  close,  and  they  escaped 
with  only  the  loss  of  a  favorite  dog  of  Captain  Dew’s,  and  the  hat 
of  that  gallant  officer.  Immediately  on  the  receipt  of  this  news  a 
message  was  sent  to  Major  Boyle,  commanding  the  marines,  who 
were  barracked  only  a  hundred  yards  distant.  As  it  was  already 
late  in  the  day,  and  no  time  was  to  be  lost,  that  officer  at  once  put 
himself  at  the  head  of  a  strong  party  of  marines,  and,  accompanied 
by  half  a  dozen  blue-jackets  of  the  Furious,  and  some  of  us  as  am- 


A  FORCIBLE  ENTRY  INTO  TIENTSIN.  255 

ateurs,  proceeded,  under  the  guidance  of  Captain  Dew,  toward  that 
part  of  the  city  where  the  outrage  was  said  to  have  occurred. 

As,  however,  we  had  upward  of  half  a  mile  of  suburb  to  trav¬ 
erse  before  reaching  the  nearest  city-gate,  timely  notice  of  our  ap¬ 
proach  was  received  by  the  gate-keepers  from  scouts  who  ran  on 
to  warn  them ;  and,  in  spite  of  our  utmost  endeavors  to  reach  the 
gate  before  it  was  shut,  we  found,  upon  our  arrival  before  it,  that 
it  was  firmly  barricaded  against  us,  and,  on  looking  through  the 
chinks  in  the  massive  paneling,  could  discern  a  large  crowd  col¬ 
lected  in  the  deep  archway  which  passed  under  the  wall  at  this 
point,  some  fifteen  or  twenty  yards  in  breadth.  We  insisted  upon 
a  Chinaman  ordering  them  to  open  the  gate,  who  obeyed  our  com¬ 
mands  in  this  wise:  ‘‘Look  out!”  he  cried;  “here  are  a  whole 
lot  of  barbarians  wanting  to  come  in !  They  have  pressed  me ;  I 
have  nothing  to  do  with  it.  Open  the  gate !  open  the  gate !  open 
the  gate !”  The  first  part  of  the  sentence,  intended  only  for  his 
Chinese  audience,  was  overheard  by  Mr.  Lay ;  the  latter  part,  in¬ 
tended  for  us,  was  shouted  with  the  utmost  vehemence. 

Seeing  that  the  people  were  determined  not  to  admit  us,  and 
that  it  was  hopeless  to  attempt  to  force  the  gate,  I  accompanied 
Captains  Osborn  and  Dew  in  search  of  an  available  part  of  the 
wall  for  scaling.  Some  low  houses  were  built  against  a  crumbling 
*  angle  at  a  likely  place,  and,  scrambling  on  to  the  overhanging 
eaves,  we  were  soon  digging  our  fingers  and  toes  into  the  crevices 
formed  by  the  disintegration  of  the  unburnt  brick  of  which  the 
wall  was  composed.  In  a  moment  more  we  were  joined  by  three 
or  four  blue-jackets  with  muskets,  and,  running  along  the  wall, 
jumped  down  into  the  street,  and  astonished  the  unsuspecting 
crowd  in  the  archway  as  we  took  them  in  rear  with  a  loud  yell. 
They  doubtless  supposed  that  the  whole  British  army  was  at  our 
backs,  for  they  tumbled  about  in  all  directions  in  their  haste  to 
escape,  assisted  by  the  application  of  a  little  judicious  pressure 
upon  sundry  parts  of  their  persons  as  they  scampered  away.  Dew, 
seizing  a  hatchet  from  one  of  them,  instantly  cut  through  the  bar 
of  the  gate,  and  in  another  moment  the  whole  of  the  marines  walk¬ 
ed  quietly  in,  the  city  having  thus  been  stormed  and  taken  in  five 
minutes,  without  any  more  serious  wound  having  been  given  or 
received  than  that  which  may  be  inflicted  with  the  toe  of  a  boot. 

We  marched  tranquilly  up  the  main  street,  then  down  to  the 
South  Gate,  which  Dew  at  first  supposed  to  be  the  one  at  which  he 


256 


MAKING  REPRISALS. 


had  been  insulted.  Finding  out  our  mistake,  however,  we  march¬ 
ed  along  the  whole  length  of  one  face  of  the  city,  a  distance  of 
about  a  mile,  upon  the  top  of  the  wall,  to  the  West  Grate — a  most 
striking  procession  to  the  admiring  crowds,  who  were  collected  in 
astonishment  to  watch  us  make  such  free  use  of  their  mural  de¬ 
fenses,  considered  the  most  sacred  part  of  a  Chinese  city.  Imme¬ 
diately  on  arriving  at  the  West  Gate  Captain  Dew’s  hat  was  pre¬ 
sented  to  him,  and  we  informed  the  mob  that,  in  consequence  of 
the  impropriety  of  their  behavior  in  that  particular  locality,  it 
would  be  necessary  to  make  prisoners  of  six  respectable  house¬ 
holders,  as  it  was  impossible  to  recognize  the  individual  offenders. 
Thus  the  better  class  would  come  to  see  the  necessity  of  treating 
foreigners  civilly.  So  we  laid  hands  on  the  captain  of  the  Tartar 
Guard  at  the  gate,  and  a  few  apparently  well-to-do  shopkeepers, 
and  marched  them  solemnly  off  between  two  files  of  marines,  Mr. 
Lay  pointing  the  moral  of  the  proceeding  by  making  the  Chinese, 
as  we  passed,  say,  “It  is  very  wrong  to  insult  an  Englishman ;  I 
will  never  insult  an  Englishman.”  Any  man  who  showed  any 
reluctance  to  repeat  this  formula  was  at  once  brought  forward, 
and  compelled,  in  a  distinct  and  grave  voice,  to  give  utterance  to 
a  variety  of  sentiments  expressive  of  his  regard  and  consideration 
for  the  English.  The  prisoners  were  only  kept  in  confinement 
one  night,  and  on  the  following  morning  were  released,  well  satis¬ 
fied  with  the  treatment  they  had  received,  and  full  of  promises  to 
use  their  utmost  influence  to  prevent  a  recurrence  of  a  similar  in¬ 
cident.  Captain  Dew’s  dog,  a  handsome  retriever,  swam  off  to  the 
Cormorant,  on  board  which  ship  his  master  was  staying,  during  the 
night. 

We  were  assured  in  different  quarters  that  the  behavior  of  the 
people  was  due  to  the  instructions  they  had  received  from  their 
mandarins,  and  that  these  instructions  had  only  been  issued  sub¬ 
sequently  to  Keying’s  arrival.  We  had  the  greater  reason  to  be¬ 
lieve  this  assertion,  as,  in  consequence  of  the  representations  made 
to  the  commissioners,  no  farther  annoyance  of  the  sort  was  expe¬ 
rienced  except  upon  the  day  following,  and  probably  before  any 
instructions  upon  the  matter  had  been  widely  circulated,  when 
Cameron  and  I  were  walking  alone  in  a  distant  suburb,  and  were 
pelted  by  some  of  the  younger  part  of  the  population,  and  sur¬ 
rounded  by  a  hostile-looking  crowd,  who  commenced  hooting. 
Upon  our  turning  round  and  facing  them,  with  an  appealing  look 


PEACEFUL  PROCLAMATIONS. 


257 


to  the  most  respectable  individuals  in  the  crowd,  these  latter  re¬ 
strained  the  more  ardent  spirits ;  and  as  we  walked  away,  we  could 
hear  the  voices  of  the  advocates  for  and  against  insult  in  high  al¬ 
tercation.  After  this,  we  could  walk  and  ride  to  considerable  dis¬ 
tances  with  perfect  impunity,  though  ever  since  our  first  arrival 
we  had  deemed  it  unwise  to  go  about  unarmed. 

The  appearance,  a  few  days  after  this,  of  120  marines  and  two 
guns  from  the  fleet,  who  were  marched  with  all  possible  military 
display  to  their  quarters,  did  much  to  give  effect  to  our  remon¬ 
strances,  and  increased  the  civility  of  the  people.  Our  force,  un¬ 
til  the  arrival  of  this  body  and  the  engineers,  had  been  very  small, 
in  consequence  of  most  of  the  blue-jackets  having  been  sent  back 
to  the  fleet  immediately  upon  our  becoming  installed  in  our  quar¬ 
ters  at  Tientsin.  Now,  however,  proclamations  were  posted  up 
all  over  the  city  and  suburbs,  stating  that  foreigners  were  always 
to  be  attended  by  (Chinese)  soldiers  to  preserve  them  from  insult, 
and  that  persons  insulting  them  would  be  severely  punished.  A 
news-room  was  discovered  in  the  city,  where  placards  containing 
the  latest  barbarian  intelligence  were  posted  up.  Among  other 
pieces  of  news,  the  public  were  informed  that  we  had  been  in¬ 
duced  to  parade  the  town  a  few  days  previously  in  consequence 
of  the  auspiciousness  of  the  day.  W e  had  certainly  proved,  upon 
that  occasion,  that,  with  even  the  comparatively  small  force  now 
at  our  disposal,  we  might  consider  any  day  auspicious  to  take  and 
occupy  a  city,  the  defenses  of  which  were  so  feeble,  and  the  garri¬ 
son  so  weak  and  timorous. 

The  authorities  were,  moreover,  extremely  desirous  of  showing 
their  sincerity  by  inflicting  summary  punishment  upon  any  China¬ 
man  against  whom  complaints  were  made.  One  cheerful-looking 
man  used  to  appear  daily  at  the  gate  of  the  yamun,  and  seat  him¬ 
self  there  with  a  cangue,  or  piece  of  board  about  three  feet  square, 
locked  round  his  neck.  The  Chinese  put  their  criminals’  heads, 
instead  of  their  legs,  into  the  stocks,  and  the  culprit  is  compelled 
to  wear  this  cumbersome  necklace  for  a  given  number  of  weeks, 
or  sometimes  months.  Upon  one  occasion  a  man  was  brought 
into  the  yamun  for  smuggling  samshu  to  the  marines,  and  the 
petty  official  charged  with  ministering  to  our  comforts,  to  show 
his  zeal,  instantly  commenced  slapping  him  violently  with  the 
open  hand  upon  the  back,  as  though  impelled  by  an  amiable  de¬ 
sire  to  assist  him  in  coughing  up  a  fish-bone. 

R 


258 


DESCRIPTION  OF  TIENTSIN. 


The  city  of  Tientsin  occupies  the  angle  formed  by  the  junction 
of  the  Grand  Canal  and  River  Peiho.  It  is  built  as  nearly  as  pos¬ 
sible  in  the  form  of  a  square,  each  face  being,  according  to  a  rough 
estimate,  a  mile  in  length.  Four  massive  gateways  give  entrance 
to  the  four  roads  which  approach  from  the  cardinal  points  of  the 
compass.  These  roads,  on  entering  the  town,  become  the  princi¬ 
pal  streets,  and  intersect  it  at  right  angles.  At  the  point  of  inter¬ 
section,  in  the  centre  of  the  town,  is  a  pagoda-shaped  building,  sup¬ 
ported  upon  four  archways,  which  span  the  streets.  From  this 
point  all  four  gates  are  visible.  These  streets  differ  entirely  from 
those  of  a  southern  town.  In  the  latter,  two  sedan-chairs  meeting 
scarcely  find  room  to  scrape  past  each  other;  while  at  Tientsin 
wheeled  vehicles  traverse  the  streets,  which  are  in  places  paved 
with  large  flag-stones,  the  foot-passengers  being  provided  with  a 
trottoir.  / 

Nor  was  Tientsin  superior  to  southern  towns  in  the  breadth  of 
its  streets  alone.  The  visitor  could  pursue  his  exploratory  in¬ 
vestigations  without  having  his  nostrils  assailed  at  every  turn  by 
the  indescribably  foul  odors  of  the  south ;  for,  although  the  city 
and  suburbs  were  by  no  means  free  from  stenches,  they  existed 
but  in  a  modified  form.  There  was  nothing,  however,  to  tempt 
one  to  frequent  its  uninviting  purlieus.  The  few  shops  that  in¬ 
terested  foreigners  were  in  the  suburbs ;  the  shops  and  houses  in 
the  city  containing  the  commonest  articles  of  Chinese  necessity, 
and  the  exterior  was  as  mean  as  their  interior  was  ill  supplied. 
They  were  generally  built  of  unburnt  brick,  sometimes  of  mud, 
often  consisting  of  two  very  low  stories,  the  ground  floor  open  to 
the  street. 

Some  fantastically-carved  wooden  arches,  which  spanned  one 
of  the  streets,  were  the  only  ornaments  of  which  the  town  could 
boast.  The  temples  were  poor  in  an  architectural  point  of  view, 
and  the  divinities  they  contained  more  than  ordinarily  shabby: 
the  best  was  in  the  suburb.  Two  or  three  yamuns  indicated  the 
residences  of  the  civic  dignitaries.  There  was  an  absence  of  that 
life  and  bustle  in  the  streets  which  usually  characterize  a  Chinese 
town:  this  may  have  been  partially  owing  to  the  panic  created 
by  our  presence.  Indeed,  people  were  actually  leaving  the  town, 
and  many  of  the  shops  were  shut  from  this  cause ;  and  in  the  sub¬ 
urbs  this  proof  of  their  uncertainty  with  regard  to  our  intentions 
was  more  general.  They  evidently  did  not  wish  to  tempt  our 


DECLINING  TRADE  OF  TIENTSIN. 


259 


cupidity  by  tbe  display  of  their  wealth.  Whether  this  wealth 
existed  or  not  remained  a  matter  of  speculation.  Most  certainly 
the  general  impression  created  upon  our  minds  was  that,  for  a 
town  which,  with  its  suburbs,  is  said  to  contain  half  a  million  of 
inhabitants,  Tientsin  was  the  most  squalid,  impoverished-looking 
place  we  had  ever  been  in. 

The  principal  traffic  in  the  streets  seemed  to  be  that  of  fuel  and 
water.  The  fuel  consisted  of  millet  or  wheat  straw,  carried  on 
men’s  shoulders;  the  water  was  conveyed  in  the  quaintly-con¬ 
structed  wheel-barrows  already  described :  occasionally  might  be 
seen  a  man  sitting  upon  one  side  of  the  wheel,  to  balance  the  two 
buckets  of  water  poised  upon  the  other.  The  water-way  to  the 
edge  of  the  river  was  paved  with  flag-stones,  cut  down  through 
the  steep  bank,  the  cutting  being  bridged  over  for  the  convenience 
of  people  passing  along  the  river  brink.  As  seen  from  the  water, 
the  groups  of  water-carriers,  with  their  barrows  and  variously- 
shaped  buckets,  emerging  from  these  subterranean  avenues,  or 
collected  at  their  mouth,  presented  one  of  the  few  picturesque 
sights  which  greeted  the  eye  of  the  traveler,  if  he  had  not  become 
too  much  disgusted  with  the  monotony  around  him  to  appreciate 
any  thing. 

Such  was  the  internal  aspect  of  the  city  of  Tientsin.  Its  de¬ 
fenses  consisted  of  the  rickety  walls  above  mentioned,  which  had 
crumbled  away  so  much  in  places  that  it  remained  a  mere  shell. 
It  was  said  that  upon  this  wall  were  mounted  eighty  guns,  being 
twenty  to  each  face ;  but,  even  if  that  number  was  not  exagger¬ 
ated,  they  existed  more  in  name  than  in  reality.  Instead  of  being 
mounted  on  carriages,  they  were,  for  the  most  part,  imbedded  in 
baskets  of  sand,  and  so  corroded  and  decayed  that  the  gunners 
would  be  in  infinitely  greater  danger  than  the  enemy.  The  gates 
are  all  surmounted  by  buildings  which  serve  as  barracks,  of  two 
stories,  with  pagoda  roofs. 

Upon  the  first  occasion  of  our  visiting  the  city,  two  or  three 
days  after  our  arrival  at  Tientsin,  some  slight  reluctance  to  admit 
us  was  exhibited  by  the  gate-keepers;  but  after  our  forcible  en¬ 
try,  our  visits  were  regarded  as  a  matter  of  course 

I  was  informed  by  an  old  merchant  of  Tientsin,  and  his  state¬ 
ment  was  corroborated  by  the  present  aspect  of  the  place,  that  it 
had  been  decaying  both  in  opulence  and  population  since  the 
overflowing  of  the  Yellow  Eiver  had  broken  down  the  banks  of 


260 


PRESENT  STATE  OF  THE  GRAND  CANAL. 


the  Grand  Canal,  and  the  exigencies  of  the  rebellion  had  swallow¬ 
ed  up  the  funds  which  would  otherwise  have  been  devoted  to  the 
repairs  of  that  great  work.  Produce  of  various  descriptions,  ar¬ 
riving  from  almost  every  province  in  China,  formerly  found  its 
way  by  tributary  canals  into  the  main  artery ;  much  of  the  wealth 
of  the  empire  thus  flowed  past  Tientsin,  which  now  reaches  the 
capital  by  other  channels  of  internal  communication,  or  has  ceased 
altogether.  But  the  principal  use  of  the  Grand  Canal  was  for  the 
transport  of  the  annual  grain-supply.  According  to  Sir  George 
Staunton,  a  thousand  grain-junks  were  passed  by  Lord  Macart¬ 
ney’s  mission  between  Tientsin  and  Toongchow.  It  will  be  seen 
from  the  following  interesting  notice,  compiled  by  Mr.  Wade  from 
various  authentic  Chinese  sources,  what,  according  to  the  most  re¬ 
cent  accounts,  is  the  present  state  of  the  imperial  canal,  and  under 
what  conditions  the  grain-transport  has  been  carried  on  in  conse¬ 
quence  : 

“  It  is  now' several  months  since  rumors  reached  us  of  the  terror 
produced  in  the  districts  adjoining  the  lower  part  of  the  Yellow 
Biver  by  its  disappearance  from  its  ancient  bed*  It  seems  be¬ 
yond  doubt  established  that,  from  a  point  which  must  be  about  as 
high  up  as  Kai-fung  Fu,  this  violent  stream  has  forced  a  new,  or, 
according  to  Chinese  historians,  has  resumed  an  old  channel,  in  a 
northeasterly  direction,  and  now  makes  its  way  into  the  Gulf  of 
Pechelee  by  superadding  its  waters  to  those  of  the  Ta-tsing  and 
other  rivers  of  Shan-tung.  Much  of  the  intermediate  country  is 
described  by  a  recent  traveler  as  more  lake  than  land,  and  the 
great  artery  of  Northern  China,  the  Grand  Canal,  clogged  in  some 
places  and  expanded  out  of  all  symmetry  in  others,  lies  useless  for 
any  of  the  greater  purposes  of  trade  or  supply  for  which  it  was 
originally  intended.  From  the  statement  of  the  crew  of  a  Yang- 
chau  junk,  which  had  forced  her  way  up  to  Tientsin  early  in  1857, 
the  bed  of  the  Yellow  Biver  had  been  filled  with  water  from  the 
canal  reservoir  by  Hwai-ngan  Fu  to  the  depth  of  three  feet,  to 
enable  vessels  to  cross.  The  junk  in  question  drew  but  two  feet. 
She  found  in  many  places  up  the  canal  but  four  inches  water,  and 
the  greatest  depth  at  any  point  did  not  exceed  four  feet.  We 
have  since  learned  that  the  bed  of  the  Yellow  Biver,  if  tempora¬ 
rily  filled,  as  stated,  at  the  point  in  question,  is  now,  at  all  events, 
perfectly  dry. 

*  See  North  China  Herald ,  Nos.  336,  3d  of  January,  1857 ;  359,  13th  of  June, 
1857;  407,  15th  of  May,  1858;  411,  12th  of  June,  1858. 


COLLECTION  OF  THE  GRAIN  TRIBUTE. 


261 


“  It  is  difficult  to  say  from  wliat  depths  of  exigency  the  indus¬ 
try  of  China  may  not  recover  itself;  but  it  is  almost  beyond  a 
doubt  that,  for  the  present,  the  operation  of  one  of  her  greatest 
works  is  in  abeyance,  and  the  north  of  her  empire  is  consequently 
beholden  for  its  commerce,  and  to  a  large  extent  for  its  subsistence, 
to  the  coast  trade,  which  it  has  been  the  policy  of  the  government, 
as  regards  the  most  important  article  of  Chinese  life,  to  restrict  in 
favor  of  its  inland  traffic.  The  wants  of  Northern  China  naturally 
attract  our  attention  at  a  moment  when  the  ports  of  that  region 
have  been  opened  to  a  certain  extent  to  our  commerce,  and  the 
following  particulars  of  what  we  were  wont  to  describe  as  the 
Grain  Tribute  of  China,  and  of  the  past  and  present  methods  of 
its  transmission,  may  not  be  uninteresting. 

“  The  code  of  the  Board  of  Revenue  of  1831,  the  latest  edition, 
we  believe,  in  print,  showed  that,  exclusive  of  13,340  tons  for 
which  a  constant  commutation  tax,  amounting  to  246,570  taels, 
was  levied  at  various  rates  in  five  of  the  contributing  provinces, 
the  whole  Grain  Tribute  annually  forwarded  in  kind  used  to  be 
collected  in  the  following  proportions : 


Rice .  210,000  tons. 

White  rice  for  the  court  use .  44,000  “ 

Wheat .  4,000  “ 

Pulse .  17,000  “ 


“The  wheat  and  pulse  were  grown  in  Chih-li  itself,  in  Shan¬ 
tung  and  in  Honan ;  the  black  pulse  in  Manchuria.  The  wheat 
is  stated  to  be  the  only  sort  destined  for  human  consumption,  but 
this  is  by  no  means  certain. 

“The  subjoined  table,  drawn  up  from  the  same  authority,  de¬ 
clares  the  proportions  in  which,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  the 
producing  districts  would  contribute.  The  wretched  state  of  the 
canal  communications  and  the  rebellion,  which,  besides  interrupt¬ 
ing  both  the  collection  and  transmission  of  the  grain-supply,  has 
for  many  years  absorbed  the  funds  otherwise  applicable  to  the 
repairs  of  the  canal  and  river,  are  causes  which  materially  affect 
the  original  conditions  of  this  branch  of  revenue.  We  will  speak 
of  it  first  as  it  was. 

The  official  expenditure  of  grain  in  1811  was  some  113,000 
tons,  without  reckoning  the  court’s  own  demand ;  and,  according 
to  the  Revenue  Statistics  of  1831,  already  quoted,  there  should  al¬ 
ways  have  been  in  store  at  Pekin  354,000  tons  of  rice,  and  at 


262 


COMMUNICATION  FROM  PEKIN. 


Tung-chau,  twelve  miles  off,  82,000  tons.  None  of  this  should  be 
allowed  to  be  unsold  or  unexpended  longer  than  three  years. 

“The  shipment  of  the  grain  was  effected  at  forty -four  major 
and  nineteen  minor  stations  in  the  eight  provinces  of 

Chih-li.  Kiang-su.  Kiang-si.  Hunan. 

Shan-tung.  Ngan-hwui.  Cheh-kiang.  Hu-peh. 

“  These,  with  all  details  of  the  establishment  charged  with  its 
carriage  and  escort,  are  under  a  superintendent,  with  the  title  of 
governor  general,  whose  head-quarters  are  at  Hwai-ngan  Fu.  He 
has  under  him  a  force  on  a  quasi-military  footing,  the  total  strength 
of  which  is  about  64,000  men.  The  grain-junks  used  to  leave  the 
points  of  collection  in  fleets,  departing  at  different  periods,  so  as 
to  avoid  confusion,  each  vessel  bearing  300  piculs  on  government 
account.  The  escort,  knowp  as  kiting ,  carried  a  certain  amount 
on  private  account,  and  were  indeed  rewarded  for  bringing  in  from 
180  to  200  piculs  in  excess  of  the  government  cargo.  Each  junk 
was  allowed  a  sum  for  her  expenses  ranging  in  amount  from  160 
to  200  taels. 

“  The  collection  of  the  grain  tribute  was  supposed  to  commence 
on  the  1st  of  the  10th  moon,  say  in  November,  and  all  grain,  no 
matter  where  collected,  to  be  weighed  and  shipped  for  the  canal 
two  months  later.  The  junks  from  the  districts  north  of  the 
Yang-tsz’,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  canal,  by  law  should  cross 
the  Yellow  River  at  Hwai-ngan  Fu  in  the  12th  moon,  January  or 
February;  those  from  other  parts  of  Kiang-su  and  Ngan-hwui,  a 
month  later ;  and  those  from  Kiang-si,  Cheh-kiang,  Hu-peh,  and 
Hunan,  a  month  later  than  the  last.  After  they  are  across,  the 
law  still  allows  them  three  months  to  ascend  the  canal  to  Tientsin, 
there  to  tranship  their  cargoes  for  Tung-chau,  whence  the  chief 
part  of  them  would  be  carried  in  carts  to  Pekin. 

“  The  line  of  canal  communication  between  the  Yansr-tsz’  and 

O 

the  Yellow  River  has  but  two  approaches  officially  recognized 
as  available  for  the  transmission  of  the  Grain  Tribute ;  one,  the 
Kwa-chau  mouth  of  the  canal,  opposite  Chin-kiang  Fu ;  the  other 
at  I-ching,  a  few  miles  higher  up  the  stream.  Punctuality  has 
not  been  more  remarkable  in  this  than  in  any  other  branch  of 
Chinese  revenue,  but  the  grand  derangement  of  all  calculations 
respecting  the  transmission  of  grain  has  ever  been  the  capricious 
disposition  of  the  Yellow  River.  The  20th  term  of  the  Chinese 


STATE  OF  THE  YELLOW  RIVER. 


263 


year,  known  as  the  “frost’s  descent,”  has  always  been  watched 
with  anxiety,  and  freedom  from  inundation  during  this  period  en¬ 
titled  the  spirit  of  the  stream  to  a  special  sacrifice  in  token  of  the 
emperor’s  gratitude.  A  glance  at  the  map  will  show  that  from 
the  points  of  its  intersection  by  the  Yellow  River  the  canal  takes 
a  northwesterly  direction,  running  for  a  considerable  distance  near¬ 
ly  parallel  to  the  course  of  its  turbulent  neighbor.  As  it  quits 
the  border  of  Kiang-su  it  becomes  principally  beholden  for  its 
supply  to  various  sheets  of  water,  part  lake,  part  reservoir,  which, 
unless  we  misunderstand  the  Pekin  Gazette ,  are  of  a  construction 
precariously  primitive.  Vast  earthworks  are  thrown  up,  and  into 
the  space  they  inclose  water  is  worked  from  the  adjacent  streams, 
to  the  very  great  peril,  as  the  Gazette  admits,  of  the  mud  enceinte , 
which  would  be  utterly  destroyed  were  the  body  within  it  all  wa¬ 
ter.  To  mitigate  this  danger,  and  at  the  same  time  to  preserve 
the  water-level  necessary  to  the  supply  of  the  canal,  the  vast  tanks 
are  three  fourths  filled  with  mud. 

“  In  1851  a  more  than  usually  violent  outbreak  of  the  Yellow 
River  swept  away  all  the  works  of  earth  and  masonry  in  the  sec¬ 
tion  of  river- works  known  as  the  F ung-peh,  in  the  north  corner 
of  Kiang-su.  In  August,  1852,  the  upward-bound  grain-fleet  was 
obliged  to  land  its  cargo  in  Shan-tung,  some  eighty  miles  below 
Tsi-ning,  to  a  point  in  which  department  all  the  grain  had  to  be 
carried  by  land  for  reshipment  to  Pekin.  The  emperor  was  short¬ 
ly  moved  by  various  memorialists  to  consider  some  new  means  of 
supplying  the  capital  with  grain,  the  canal,  it  was  urged,  having 
become  impracticable  by  mismanagement. 

“Early  in  1853  a  censor  recommends  the  transport  of  grain  by 
sea.  He  puts  the  total  consumption  of  the  capital  at  four  million 
piculs  of  superior,  and  two  and  a  half  million  piculs  of  inferior 
descriptions  of  grain — say  430,000  tons.  The  provinces  hereto¬ 
fore  relied  upon  were  all  disturbed  by  rebels;  but  in  Fuh-kien 
and  Cheh-kiang,  which  were  quiet,  a  sale  of  rank  might  be  open¬ 
ed,  and  grain  bought  by  the  local  government  with  the  proceeds. 
The  Formosa  market  wras  also  spoken  of.  By  the  end  of  the  year 
333  junks  of  grain  from  the  south  had  reached  the  Gulf  of  Peche- 
lee. 

“In  the  spring  of  1854  the  capital  was  in  sore  distress.  The 
rebels  were  on  the  borders  of  Tientsin,  and  Cheh-kiang  was  the 
only  one  of  the  supplying  provinces  not  in  disorder :  even  there 


264 


GRAIN  TRANSPORT  BY  SEA. 


floods  had  done  damage.  The  emperor  was  accordingly  prayed 
to  give  a  general  invitation  to  merchants  to  import  grain  from  all 
parts.  The  river  communication  between  Pekin  and  Tientsin 
had  also  been  injured  by  inundation.  Still,  by  the  close  of  the 
year  the  grain-receipts  at  Tung-chau  amounted  to  1,424,946  piculs, 
nearly  100,000  tons.  This  is  described  as  grain  of  1853.  It  is 
classed  under  eight  different  denominations,  and  its  carriage  up 
from  Tientsin,  it  is  observable,  employed  3892  river-junks  from 
the  7th  of  June  to  the  3d  of  August. 

“  A  decree  of  January,  1855,  shows  that  the  rendezvous  of  the 
junks  bringing  grain  from  Kiang-su  or  Cheh-kiang  was  the  port 
of  Liu-ho,  a  small  customs  station  on  the  Yang-tsz’,  at  no  great 
distance  from  Shanghai.  The  emperor  is  in  great  want  of  rice, 
and  lays  an  embargo  right  and  left  on  flat-bottomed  vessels  along 
the  whole  coast,  from  the  (gulf  of  Liau-tung  down  to  Ningpo. 
Cheh-kiang  furnished  no  less  than  60,000  tons  this  year;  but  this 
appears  all  that  Pekin  received. 

“In  May,  1856,  the  governor  of  Cheh-kiang,  in  a  somewhat 
self-complacent  memorial,  reports  the  shipment  of  about  60,000 
tons  in  721  junks,  divided  into  six  fleets.  ‘  It  is  now  four  years,’ 
he  says,  ‘since  the  sea-transport  was  commenced  on  the  recom¬ 
mendation  of  his  predecessor,  and  the  subsidy  is  increasing  an¬ 
nually.’  By  the  5th  of  July,  1200  junks  had  discharged  100,000 
tons  at  Tientsin  and  returned  south.  Some  6000  tons  were  still 
due.  The  insurrection  being  now  to  all  appearance  about  to  limit 
itself  to  the  southern  provinces,  the  canal  was  surveyed  in  the 
hope  of  again  making  it  navigable  for  the  grain-fleet.  The  re¬ 
port  is  long,  and,  from  the  use  of  certain  technicalities,  somewhat 
difficult  of  translation.  The  fact,  however,  is  established  that,  ow¬ 
ing  to  a  series  of  inundations  from  1851  to  1855,  the  artificial 
channels  had  sustained  almost  irreparable  damage.  The  Weishan 
Hu,  a  principal  reservoir,  which  should  have  in  it  fourteen  feet  of 
water,  had  but  from  two  to  eight  feet ;  in  many  places  mud  banks 
stood  out  like  islands,  and  along  its  whole  western  verge  was  a 
dry  tract  of  varying  width.  A  proposition  to  introduce  more  wa¬ 
ter  and  more  deposit  was  rejected,  as  calculated  to  jeopardize  the 
frail  inclosure  of  the  Hu.  The  year  closes  with  disastrous  notices. 
In  Pekin  rice  was  from  nine  to  ten  dollars  a  picul ;  the  crop  short 
in  Kiang-su  and  Cheh-kiang,  which  were  also  suffering  from  lo¬ 
custs.  There  were  locusts  in  Chih-li  as  well. 


PRICE  OF  RICE  AT  TIENTSIN. 


265 


“In  1857  the  authorities  of  the  Two  K wangs  are  called  on  to 
find  rice  for  the  court.  Some  of  the  Kiang-su  quota  is  detained 
for  war  supplies.  That  the  abandonment  of  the  canal  transport 
is  in  contemplation,  may  be  inferred  from  a  proposal  made  by  the 
Board  of  Revenue  to  dispose  of  the  junks  formerly  employed  upon 
the  canal,  many  of  which  we  know  to  be  rotting  at  Hang-chau 
and  elsewhere.  The  board  also  remarks,  by  the  way,  that  an 
equivalent  to  their  former  tax  in  grain  is  now  levied  in  coin  on 
Hu-peh,  Hunan,  Kiang-si,  and  Ngan-hwui ;  another  indication  of 
the  court’s  acceptance  of  the  sea-transport  as  something  more  than 
a  temporary  measure.  The  authorities  of  Manchuria  reported  the 
shipment  in  June  of  some  3000  tons  of  grain,  which  they  describe 
as  rice.  It  was  probably  wheat. 

“  Supposing  the  censor’s  estimate,  tendered  in  1853,  to  be  ap¬ 
proximately  correct,  it  follows  that,  in  the  last  six  years,  the  sup¬ 
ply  of  the  best  grain  has  only  twice  equaled  a  third,  and  did  not 
last  year  amount  to  a  tenth  of  the  Pekin  demand.  The  supply 
of  this  year  remains  to  be  ascertained ;  but  when  the  mission  were 
at  Tientsin,  rice  was  selling  at  from  five  to  six  dollars  a  picul,  and 
the  resources  of  the  province  were  threatened  by  locusts,  which 
continued  to  arrive  by  myriads.  These  were  sold  dried  as  food 
at  forty  cash  a  catty.  They  did  not  seem  in  such  request,  never¬ 
theless,  as  to  cause  future  speculators  in  1  grain-stuffs’  any  serious 
apprehension.” 


TABLE  SHOWING  THE  PROCEEDS  OF  THE  GRAIN-TAX  OF  CHINA  AS  RETURNED  IN  1831. 


266  TABLE  SHOWING  PROCEEDS  OF  GRAIN-TAX. 


TRADE  OF  TIENTSIN. 


267 


The  high  price  of  rice  at  Tientsin  was  doubtless  due  to  our  oc¬ 
cupation  of  the  river  and  the  presence  of  our  ships  in  the  Gulf. 
It  had  always  been  one  of  Lord  Elgin’s  principal  objects,  in  hur¬ 
rying  north  at  an  early  period  of  the  year,  to  reach  the  mouth  of 
the  Peiho  in  time  to  intercept  the  fleet  of  grain-junks.  That  we 
should  have  been  successful  in  carrying  out  this  design,  had  not 
other  circumstances  intervened  to  prevent  it,  may  be  gathered 
from  the  fact  that  upward  of  nine  hundred  grain-junks  were  cal¬ 
culated  actually  to  have  passed  within  sight  of  the  Furious  on 
their  way  into  the  river,  not  counting  those  which  sought  the 
northern  entrance  in  order  to  avoid  our  fleet.  Thus,  though 
Tientsin  had  lost  in  some  respects  in  commercial  importance,  it 
was  still,  in  a  political  point  of  view,  the  most  favorable  position 
for  exerting  a  tremendous  moral  pressure  on  the  capital.  Every 
day  was  affording  additional  evidence  of  this,  and  the  result 
proved  it  conclusively. 

To  return,  however,  to  the  .statistics  of  Tientsin,  it  was  extreme¬ 
ly  difficult  to  obtain  any  information  on  the  subject.  The  only 
respectable  Chinese  merchant  whom  I  had  an  opportunity  of 
cross-examining  on  the  matter  was  either  very  loth  to  impart  his 
knowledge,  or  had  no  knowledge  to  impart.  The  theme  upon 
which  he  dwelt  most  feelingly  was  the  excessive  poverty  of  the 
city  of  his  abode.  It  exported  absolutely  nothing,  he  averred. 
Its  only  productions  were  salt,  from  the  pans  near  it  and  the  sea, 
and  grain  of  various  descriptions,  but  not  more  than  sufficed  for 
home  consumption.  Among  its  imports  from  the  south  are 
dried  fruits,  sugar,  glass-ware,  camlets,  woolens,  opium,  etc.,  in 
small  quantities.  Numerous  cargoes  of  beans  and  bean-cakes  are 
brought  over  from  Neu-chwang  and  the  Manchurian  coast.  There 
can  be  little  doubt  that  we  shall  find  a  considerable  market  in  the 
north  of  China  for  our  cotton  and  woolen  manufactures.  I  ob¬ 
served  in  the  bazar  some  Manchester  calicoes,  also  English  or  Ger¬ 
man  glass-ware,  cutlery,  lucifer  matches,  etc. 

In  contemplating  the  population  of  Tientsin  with  a  practical¬ 
ly  commercial  eye,  the  problem  is  not  whether  they  want  clothes, 
but  whether  they  have  money  enough  to  buy  them.  Appear¬ 
ances  certainly  fully  bore  out  the  Chinese  merchant’s  assertion 
as  to  the  poverty  of  the  town.  In  no  part  of  the  world  have 
I  ever  witnessed  a  more  squalid,  diseased  population  than  that 
which  seemed  rather  to  infest  than  inhabit  the  suburbs  of  the  city. 


268 


SQUALOR  OF  THE  INHABITANTS. 


Filth,  nakedness,  and  itch  were  the  prevailing  characteristics. 
The  banks  of  the  river  swarmed  with  men  who  lived  entirely  on 
the  garbage  and  offal  that  were  flung  from  the  ships,  or  were 
swept  up  by  the  tide  from  the  city.  There  was  an  eddy  just  in 
front  of  our  yamun  in  which  dead  cats,  etc.,  used  to  gyrate,  and 
into  which  stark  naked  figures  were  constantly  plunging  in  search 
of  some  delicate  morsel.  Their  clothing  generally  consisted  of  a 
piece  of  mat  or  tattered  sacking,  which  they  wore,  not  round  their 
waist,  but  thrown  negligently  over  their  shoulders — it  was  diffi¬ 
cult  to  divine  for  what  purpose,  as  decency  was  ignored,  and  in 
the  month  of  June  warmth  was  not  a  desideratum.  Cutaneous 
diseases  of  the  most  loathsome  character  met  the  eye  in  the  course 
of  the  shortest  walk,  and  objects  so  frightful  that  their  vitality 
seemed  a  mockery  of  existence  shocked  the  coarsest  sensibili¬ 
ties. 

Upon  several  occasions  I  saw  life  ebbing  from  some  wretched 
sufferer  as  he  lay  at  his  post  of  mendicancy.  One  old  woman,  in 
particular,  attracted  my  attention.  She  used  to  lie  motionless  on 
a  mat  in  the  centre  of  the  road,  a  diseased  skeleton.  She  had  just 
strength  enough  to  clutch  at  cash  that  was  flung  at  her.  One  day 
this  strength  seemed  to  have  failed :  I  looked  closer,  and  she  was 
dead.  A  few  hours  after,  I  repassed ;  but  her  place  knew  her  no 
more :  she  had  been  carried  away  and  cast  upon  a  dung-heap.  I 
was  riding  on  the  outskirts  of  the  city  one  day,  and  saw  a  man 
carrying  another  on  his  back.  At  first  I  thought  the  burden  was 
a  corpse  ;  but,  as  I  approached  nearer,  a  certain  flexibility  of  the 
legs,  as  they  trailed  in  the  dust  behind,  undeceived  me.  This  was 
one  of  the  city  scavengers  who  prowl  the  streets  for  dying  beg¬ 
gars,  and  when  they  find  one  in  whom  life  is  almost  extinct,  they 
bear  him  off  to  some  suburban  Aceldama,  and  fling  him  from  their 
shoulders,  a  premature  feast  for  crows  and  vultures.  Certainly, 
if  the  imagination  of  the  Chinaman  who  named  this  city  Tientsin, 
“  heavenly  spot,”  could  form  no  higher  idea  of  an  abode  of  bliss, 
it  is  difficult  to  conceive  what  must  have  been  his  notion  of  the 
opposite  extreme. 

As  if  in  ironical  allusion  to  the  misery  which  the  living  seemed 
to  endure,  almost  the  only  pretty  spots  near  Tientsin  were  the 
burial-places.  They  were  nearly  the  only  localities  honored  with 
trees,  and  consisted  generally  of  a  square  with  an  area  of  about 
a  quarter  of  an  acre,  inclosed  by  a  mud  bank  and  ditch,  so  as  to 


EXPLORATION  OF  THE  SURROUNDING  COUNTRY.  269 


present  exactly  the  appearance  of  a  small  earthwork  or  tabia. 
Each  member  of  a  family  who  reposes  within  this  inclosure  is 
placed  beneath  a  conical  mound  of  earth,  about  the  size  and  shape 
of  a  bell-tent.  A  thick  grove  of  trees,  generally  willow  and  cy¬ 
press,  surrounds  the  cemetery,  and  gives  a  cool  and  refreshing  as¬ 
pect  to  the  place.  One  of  these  burial-places  was  of  so  great  an 
extent,  and  contained  so  many  graves,  that  in  our  ignorance  we 
avoided  it  for  some  days,  feeling  certain  it  was  an  intrenched 
camp,  as  we  had  heard  of  the  existence  of  one  in  the  neighbor¬ 
hood.  The  absence  of  the  usual  trees  confirmed  the  suspicion, 
until  we  mustered  up  courage  to  visit  it  one  day,  and  found  only 
a  decrepit  custodian,  rapidly  going  to  join  those  whose  remains 
he  was  now  guarding.  The  real  camp  we  discovered  a  few  days 
after  from  the  summit  of  a  species  of  martello  tower,  to  the  top 
of  which  we  climbed  for  purposes  of  inspection. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed,  however,  that  the  entire  population  of 
Tientsin  and  its  neighborhood  are  invalids  or  beggars.  There 
was  a  large  class  of  respectable  bourgeoisie ;  and  the  country  peo¬ 
ple,  though  poor,  looked  cheerful  and  industrious  as  they  worked 
in  large  gangs  in  the  fields.  The  fair  sex  was  almost  invisible. 
It  was  by  the  rarest  accident  that  a  glimpse  was  caught  of  a  wom¬ 
an  not  belonging  to  the  lowest  class.  Even  these  latter  all  cramp¬ 
ed  their  feet — a  practice  not  so  general  among  the  same  class  in 
the  south.  Some  of  the  little  girls  we  saw  were  pretty;  and, 
with  their  heads  decorated  with  bright  flowers,  and  their  gaudy 
skirts  fluttering  in  the  wind,  they  looked  piquant  and  graceful. 
But,  as  a  rule,  the  women  generally  seen  were  hideous. 

Ere  very  long  we  had  explored  the  environs  of  Tientsin  in  ev¬ 
ery  direction.  Our  yamun  was  situated  on  a  peninsula,  formed 
by  a  deep  bend  of  the  river,  which,  doubled  back  so  as  almost  to 
convert  it  into  an  island.  Upon  one  side  of  us  the  mud  houses 
of  the  suburb  were  built  against  the  yamun  wall,  but  to  the  left 
and  rear  were  gardens,  scattered  houses,  and  waste  land.  The 
engineers  occupied  a  temple  within  musket-shot,  and  next  door 
to  them,  “  Caserne  Franchise,”  painted  in  large  white  letters,  indi¬ 
cated  the  quarters  of  the  “Marine  Frangaise.”  Just  previous  to 
our  departure  there  was  an  allied  force  of  nearly  six  hundred  men 
quartered  in  different  buildings  upon  this  little  peninsula,  which 
was  capable  of  being  rendered  defensible,  if  necessary,  by  an 
earthwork  thrown  across  the  narrow  isthmus,  so  that  we  were 


.  270 


THE  HARVEST  AT  TIENTSIN. 


fortunate  both  in  respect  to  the  accommodation  and  locale  of  our 
position. 

Passing  the  isthmus,  and  riding  parallel  to  the  Grand  Canal,  we 
soon  reach  a  bridge  of  boats,  by  which  the  Pekin  road  crosses  to 
the  city ;  turning  sharp  to  the  right,  we  follow  this  road,  so  inter¬ 
esting  to  us  while  we  thought  it  possible  we  might  have  to  trav¬ 
erse  it.  It  soon  emerges  from  the  suburb,  and  crossing  two  ca¬ 
nals,  tributary  to  the  Peiho,  by  substantial  bridges,  one  of  which 
is  ornamented  with  a  handsome  balustrade  of  carved  marble, 
reaches  the  Wenho,  or  salt  river,  a  little  above  its  junction  with 
the  Peiho.  It  is  conveyed  across  this  important  stream  by  a 
bridge  of  boats,  and,  traversing  the  peninsula  formed  by  the  two, 
follows  the  right  bank  of  the  Peiho  for  as  many  miles  as  our  ex¬ 
plorations  extended. 

The  farthest  point  I  reached,  on  horseback  was  the  large  village 
of  Petsang,  about  seven  miles  from  Tientsin  by  the  road,  and 
lately  become  interesting  as  the  point  at  which  Mr.  Ward  and  his 
suite  struck  the  Peiho  on  their  way  to  the  capital,  from  which,  ac¬ 
cording  to  report,  it  was  not  above  forty-five  miles  distant  in  a 
straight  line.  The  country  through  which  we  passed  presented 
all  the  appearance  of  being  subject  to  annual  inundations;  deep 
ditches  intersected  it  in  various  directions  for  the  purpose  of  car¬ 
rying  off  the  water;  and  the  Pekin  road  was  raised  fifteen  or 
twenty  feet  above  its  level,  the  small  country  roads  which  crossed 
it  being  all  bridged  over.  The  high  road  was  paved  in  places, 
and  about  twenty  feet  in  breadth.  The  villages,  which  dotted 
the  landscape  in  every  direction,  were  also  built  upon  raised 
mounds,  which  completed  their  resemblance  to  the  mud  towns  of 
Egypfc. 

During  the  first  portion  of  our  stay  at  Tientsin,  the  flat  country 
extending  between  the  Grand  Canal  and  the  Peiho  was  one  vast 
field  of  ripening  wheat  as  far  as  eye  could  reach ;  and,  uninter¬ 
rupted  by  fence  or  inclosure,  the  yellow  corn  rose  and  fell  to  the 
breeze  in  gently  rolling  waves ;  while,  dotted  over  its  surface,  the 
masts  and  sails  of  numerous  junks  were  visible,  looking  as  though 
they  traversed  a  golden  sea.  These  were  navigating  the  minor 
canals.  Only  once,  on  an  unusually  clear  day,  could  I  distinguish 
in  the  dim  distance  the  irregular  outline  of  some  far-off  hills. 
Winding  through  this  fertile  plain,  the  courses  of  the  Grand  Ca¬ 
nal  and  the  Peiho  were  marked  by  the  groves  of  trees  which 


KITCHEN-GARDENS. 


271 


adorn  their  banks,  and  surround  ancestral  graves.  Some  of  the 
villages  also  rejoiced  in  clumps  of  trees,  but  generally  they  look¬ 
ed  like  brown  patches  stuck  upon  a  green  ground. 

Ere  we  left  Tientsin  the  aspect  of  the  country  was  entirely 
changed,  for  the  harvest  was  over.  Most  of  the  corn  was  cut 
with  the  sickle,  but  I  observed  that  grain  of  certain  descriptions 
was  plucked  out  by  the  roots ;  then  it  was  collected  into  thrash¬ 
ing-grounds,  to  be  tramped  out  by  oxen,  and  winnowed  upon 
breezy  days,  when  carts,  concealed  by  mountains  of  straw,  and 
drawn  by  mixed  teams  of  horses,  mules,  and  oxen,  creaked  heav¬ 
ily  over  the  soft  land,  and  gleaners  scattered  themselves  far  and 
wide  through  the  fields,  and  the  whole  population  was  out  in  the 
bright  sunshine,  looking  cheerful  and  happy  as  they  gathered  in 
the  blessed  fruits  of  their  labor  and  toil.  In  the  mellow  hour  of 
evening,  when  the  whole  western  sky  was  a  blaze  of  red,  and  the 
scene  was  bathed  in  the  glowing  reflection  of  its  fiery  tints,  it  was 
pleasant  to  ride  among  the  reapers  of  Tientsin,  and  forget,  in  the 
picture  of  content  and  plenty  before  us,  the  objects  we  had  just 
witnessed  of  misery  and  starvation. 

Although  the  country  around  Tientsin  was  a  dead  level,  it  was 
not  destitute  of  variety.  If  the  Pekin  road  led  through  nothing 
but  a  corn-field,  that  which  followed  the  banks  of  the  Grand 
Canal  in  a  southerly  direction  conducted  you  for  miles  between 
kitchen-gardens  so  exquisitely  tended  that,  in  this  respect,  at  all 
events,  the  environs  of  Tientsin  are  a  pattern  to  those  of  London. 
Fences  of  the  neatest  and  most  tasteful  construction  inclosed  little 
areas  of  ground,  irrigated  by  a  net- work  of  minute  canals,  divided 
into  beds,  devoid  of  weed  or  pebble.  Greens  of  every  description, 
gourds,  egg-plants,  leeks  and  onions,  sweet  potatoes,  beans  and 
peas,  were  planted  out  and  manured,  or  trained,  as  the  case  might 
be,  with  the  utmost  care.  Interspersed  with  the  kitchen-gardens 
were  vineyards,  orchards,  and  fruit-gardens,  containing  apricots, 
apples,  and  pears  of  a  coarse  description,  and  vines  trained  on 
trellises,  as  in  the  north  of  Italy.  This  was  one  of  the  pleasantest 
rides,  as  it  was  for  the  most  part  shaded  by  trees,  and  the  wind¬ 
ings  of  the  canal,  with  the  river-life  upon  it,  added  to  its  pictur¬ 
esque  interest.  It  was  an  immense  relief,  in  all  our  rural  ram¬ 
bles,  not  to  be  stifled  at  every  turn  with  the  filthy  contrivances  of 
the  south.  In  this  respect  the  horticulture  and  agriculture  of  the 
north  are  carried  on  under  much  pleasanter  conditions.  Our  ex- 


272 


SALT-PANS. 


plorations  in  a  westerly  direction  were  uninteresting ;  tire  country 
was  an  immense  grave-yard — not  a  collection  of  private  ceme¬ 
teries,  sucli  as  I  have  described  upon  the  banks  of  the  Peiho  and 
Grand  Canal,  but  a  plain  crowded  with  conical  tumuli,  destitute 
of  grass  or  trees,  and  extensive  enough  to  have  contained  the 
whole  defunct  population  of  Tientsin  since  the  original  founding 
of  that  “heavenly  spot.” 

There  is  only  one  more  direction  in  which  I  will  ask  the  reader 
to  accompany  me,  if  he  be  not  already  as  tired  of  the  environs  of 
Tientsin  as  we  were.  A  very  considerable  suburb,  connected 
with  the  city  by  a  bridge  of  boats,  was  situated  upon  the  opposite 
side  of  the  Peiho.  Passing  through  it,  we  debouch  upon  a  singu¬ 
lar  piece  of  landscape. 

Here  were  salt-pans,  with  the  salt  stacked  in  large  tumuli  like 
gigantic  graves.  Interspersed  with  them  were  small  tumuli,  which 
really  were  gravels ;  and  there  were  deep  pits,  and  ponds  of  water 
with  narrow  ridges  between  them,  and  more  salt  stacked  in  bags, 
and  roofed  in  with  millet  straw  ;  and  huge  stacks  of  wheat  straw 
collected  for  purposes  of  fuel ;  and  mud  huts,  like  Irish  cabins  of 
the  meanest  description,  inclosed  by  fences  of  millet  straw,  which 
is  thick  and  strong  enough  for  the  purpose ;  and  there  were  brick¬ 
kilns  which  looked  like  circular  forts,  and  a  circular  fort  which 
looked  like  a  brick-kiln.  Altogether,  it  was  the  oddest  collection 
of  big  mounds  and  little  mounds,  and  heaps  and  stacks,  and  pits, 
and  stagnant  ponds,  and  hovels,  and  forts,  and  brick-kilns,  and 
fences,  and  waste  land  I  ever  saw.  A  high  road  led  through  it, 
and  into  a  close,  populous  village  beyond,  and  out  of  that  into  the 
illimitable  steppe.  There  was  no  waving  corn  here :  a  weakly 
vetch  and  unhealthy -looking  young  plants  of  Indian  corn  were 
struggling  to  maintain  a  miserable  existence  in  a  soil  so  thin  and 
friable  that  the  united  efforts  of  two  men  and  a  donkey,  or  two 
donkeys,  were  sufficient  to  drag  a  plow  through  it.  It  seemed  to 
be  of  quite  another  character  from  that  on  the  right  bank  of  tl}e 
river.  Beyond  the  vetch-fields  the  steppe  produced  nothing  but 
a  short  dry  grass,  across  which  we  could  scamper  in  every  direc¬ 
tion,  with  the  chance  of  putting  up  a  hare  and  riding  after  him 
across  the  country.  It  reminded  me  of  some  parts  of  the  steppes 
of  Southern  Russia.  Sometimes  the  monotony  of  this  scene  was 
unbroken  by  a  living  object;  sometimes  a  cloud  of  dust  would 
betoken  the  approach  of  country  carts,  and  a  succession  of  huge 


LOCUST-HUNTING. 


273 


creaking  vehicles  would  roll  past,  loaded  with  fuel,  and  drawn  by 
a  mixed  team.  I  have  counted  a  horse,  a  pony,  a  mule,  a  donkey, 
and  two  oxen  in  one  cart.  An  ox  and  the  horse  served  as  wheel¬ 
ers  ;  in  front  of  them  were  the  other  ox,  the  mule,  and  the  pony, 
while  the  donkey  led  the  way  in  solitary  dignity. 

Toward  the  end  of  the  month  of  June,  fortunately  just  after  the 
crops  were  taken  in,  a  swarm  of  locusts  invaded  the  country. 
You  could  gallop  through  miles  of  them  in  this  plain  as  they 
whizzed  and  fluttered  among  the  horses’  legs ;  you  could  steam 
through  acres  of  them  as  you  traversed  the  river,  and  eat  bushels 
of  them  fried,  if  so  it  pleased  you,  as  they  were  hawked  about  in 
baskets  by  urchins  in  the  streets.  Locust-hunting  was  a  favorite 
and  profitable  occupation  among  the  juvenile  part  of  the  commu¬ 
nity.  I  had  the  curiosity  to  eat  one,  and  thought  it  not  unlike  a 
periwinkle. 


S 


274  ADVANTAGES  GAINED  BY  RUSSIA  AND  AMERICA. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Advantages  gained  by  Russia  and  America. — A  serious  “Hitch.” — The  two  im¬ 
portant  Demands. — The  Right  of  a  Resident  Minister. — The  Chinese  System  of 
Government:  Mode  of  influencing  it. — Principle  of  direct  Communication. — The 
Concession  gained. — The  final  Procession. — Signing  of  the  Treaty. — An  effective 
Illumination. — A  Retrospect. — The  new  Ports. — The  Transit-dues. — Climate  of 
Tientsin. — Absence  of  Surveys. — Geography  of  the  Country. — Abundance  of  Ice. 
— A  Skittle-alley.  — C uriosity- hunting. 

Meantime  the  work  of  negotiation  was  progressing  with  the 
neutrals,  whose  task  was  less  surrounded  with  difficulties  than  that 
of  the  quasi-belligerents,  more  rapidly  than  with  ourselves. 

On  the  14th  of  June  Count  Poutiatine  signed  his  treaty,  in 
which  the  chief  concessions  gained  were  the  right  of  correspond¬ 
ence  upon  an  equal  footing  between  the  Russian  minister  of  For¬ 
eign  Affairs  and  the  prime  minister  or  first  minister  of  the  Coun¬ 
cil  of  State  at  Pekin ;  permission  to  send  diplomatic  agents  to  that 
city  upon  special  occasions ;  liberty  of  circulation  throughout  the 
empire  of  missionaries  only,  under  a  system  of  passports ;  and  the 
right  to  trade  at  ports  at  present  open,  and,  in  addition,  at  Swatow, 
at  a  port  in  Formosa,  and  another  in  Hainan. 

Four  days  afterward  the  American  treaty  was  signed  by  Mr. 
Reed,  in  which  the  same  privilege  of  special  missions  to  Pekin 
was  accorded  to  the  government  of  the  United  States,  and  the 
same  additional  ports  opened  to  its  trade. 

These  were  by  no  means  trifling  concessions,  and,  eked  out  by 
“the  most  favored  nation  clause,”  were  a  great  advance  on  the 
privileges  formerly  enjoyed  by  Russia  and  the  United  States  in 
China.  It  would  be  a  mistake,  however,  to  suppose  that  they 
were  willingly  granted  by  the  Chinese  government.  Much  more 
moderate  demands,  when  preferred  the  year  before  by  the  minis¬ 
ters  of  Russia  and  the  United  States  respectively,  had  been  peremp¬ 
torily  refused.  Indeed,  both  Count  Poutiatine  and  Mr.  Reed,  upon 
concluding  these  treaties,  expressed,  in  the  most  frank  and  candid 
manner,  the  conviction  they  entertained  that  the  concessions  they 
had  gained  had  been  due  to  the  pressure  exercised  at  this  junc¬ 
ture  upon  the  imperial  cabinet  by  the  allied  governments  of  France 
and  England. 


A  SERIOUS  “  HITCH.” 


275 


By  the  end  of  the  week,  after  several  pretty  stormy  discussions 
between  the  commissioners  and  Mr.  Bruce  and  Messrs.  Wade  and 
Lay,  who  were  acting  on  behalf  of  Lord  Elgin,  a  general  agree¬ 
ment  had  been  arrived  at  as  to  the  terms  of  the  British  treaty. 
It  had  been  resolved  that  the  clauses  should  be  drawn  up  forth¬ 
with  in  English  and  Chinese,  and  the  evening  of  the  26th  had  been 
fixed  for  the  signature. 

An  incident,  however,  occurred  on  the  evening  of  the  25th 
which  threatened  to  lead  to  very  serious  embarrassments.  Among 
the  clauses  in  the  British  treaty  which  were  not  included  in  the 
other  treaties,  there  were  two  which  were  most  pertinaciously  re¬ 
sisted  by  the  Chinese  commissioners.  The  one  provided  that  the 
British  minister  in  China  should  be  entitled  to  reside  permanent¬ 
ly  at  Pekin,  or  to  visit  it  occasionally  at  the  option  of  the  British 
government;  and  the  other,  that  British  subjects  should  have  the 
right  of  traveling  to  all  parts  of  the  Empire  of  China  for  trading 
purposes.  Having  failed  in  their  endeavors  to  induce  Lord  El¬ 
gin  to  recede  from  these  demands,  the  commissioners  had  recourse 
to  the  Plenipotentiaries  of  the  other  powers  then  at  Tientsin,  and 
begged  their  intervention  in  conveying  to  Lord  Elgin  the  import¬ 
ant  piece  of  intelligence  that  on  the  previous  day  an  imperial  de¬ 
cree  had  been  received  from  Pekin  to  the  effect  that  not  merely 
degradation,  but  decapitation  would  be  inflicted  upon  Kweiliang 
and  Hwashana  if  they  conceded  these  two  points. 

Whether  or  not  any  such  decree  had  actually  been  received 
was  problematical;  but  the  appeal  ad  misericordiam  was  difficult 
to  resist,  more  particularly  as  it  was  made  just  at  the  moment  that 
the  first  rumors  of  Keying’s  death  reached  us.  As  the  French 
plenipotentiary  had  not  included  in  his  treaty  the  specific  de¬ 
mands  now  objected  to,  it  would  have  been  unreasonable  to  sup¬ 
pose  that  he  would  consent  to  enforce  them  by  hostile  measures. 
The  circumstances  of  the  case  were  obviously  in  the  highest  de¬ 
gree  critical.  To  give  way  was  perhaps  to  imperil  all  that  was 
most  valuable  in  the  proposed  treaty ;  for  the  commissioners,  em¬ 
boldened  by  success,  would  in  all  probability  have  proceeded  to 
call  in  question  other  clauses,  such  as  that  for  the  settlement  of 
the  transit  dues,  which  were  peculiar  to  the  English  treaty,  in  the 
hope  of  indefinitely  protracting  negotiations.  To  persevere  in  the 
face  of  the  representations  which  had  been  made  was  to  run  the 
risk  of  isolation,  perhaps  of  a  hostile  advance  on  Pekin  unaccom- 


276 


THE  RIGHT  OF  A  RESIDENT  MINISTER. 


panied  by  allies.  Nevertheless,  Lord  Elgin,  after  full  considera¬ 
tion,  resolved  to  adhere  to  his  original  demands ;  and  upon  the 
morning  of  the  26th  he  authorized  Mr.  Bruce  to  communicate  his 
determination  to  the  commissioners  in  peremptory  terms,  believ¬ 
ing  that  language  of  a  decided  character  would  be  the  best  pro¬ 
tection  to  the  commissioners  against  the  imperial  wrath,  which,  it 
was  alleged,  their  acquiescence  in  his  demands  would  provoke. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  enlarge  upon  the  motives  which  in¬ 
duced  the  embassador  to  exhibit  so  much  persistence  in  so  far  as 
the  second  of  these  demands  is  concerned.  The  commercial  ad¬ 
vantages  which  England  must  derive  from  the  vast  extension  of 
her  import  and  export  trade  consequent  upon  the  “  exploitation ” 
of  the  interior  of  the  empire  by  her  merchants  are  too  manifest  to 
require  elucidation.  With  reference  to  the  other  point,  however 
— viz.,  the  power  of  appointing  a  resident  minister  at  Pekin — as 
opinions  are  divided  in  England  as  to  the  expediency  of  taking 
advantage  of  this  privilege,  the  concession  of  which  cost  the  im¬ 
perial  government  so  sharp  a  pang,  it  is  necessary  to  say  a  few 
words  in  explanation  of  the  value  which  Lord  Elgin  attached  to  it. 

Any  person  who  has  attentively  observed  the  working  of  the 
anomalous  and  altogether  unique  system  under  which  the  vast 
Empire  of  China  is  governed  will  have  perceived  that,  though 
ruling  under  altogether  different  conditions,  supported,  not  by  a 
physical  force,  but  by  a  moral  prestige  unrivaled  in  power  and 
extent,  the  Emperor  of  China  can  say  with  no  less  truth  than  Na¬ 
poleon,  “  L’Empire  c’est  moi.”  Backed  by  no  standing  army 
worth  the  name,  depending  for  the  stability  of  his  authority  nei¬ 
ther  upon  his  military  genius  nor  administrative  capacity,  he  ex¬ 
ercises  a  rule  more  absolute  than  any  European  despot,  and  is  en¬ 
abled  to  thrill  with  his  touch  the  remotest  provinces  of  the  empire, 
deriving  his  ability  to  do  so  from  that  instinct  of  cohesion  and 
love  of  order  by  which  his  subjects  are  supereminently  charac¬ 
terized. 

But  while  it  happens  that  the  wonderful  endurance  of  a  China¬ 
man  will  enable  him  to  bear  an  amount  of  injustice  from  his  gov¬ 
ernment  which  would  revolutionize  a  Western  state,  it  is  no  less 
true  that  the  limit  may  be  passed  when  a  popular  movement  en¬ 
sues,  assuming  at  times  an  almost  constitutional  character.  When 
any  emeute  of  this  description  takes  place,  as  directed  against  a  lo¬ 
cal  official,  the  imperial  government  invariably  espouses  the  pop- 


THE  CHINESE  SYSTEM  OF  GOVERNMENT. 


277 


ular  cause,  and  the  individual,  whose  guilt  is  inferred  from  the 
existence  of  disturbance,  is  at  once  degraded.  Thus  a  certain 
sympathy  or  tacit  understanding  seems  to  exist  between  the  em¬ 
peror  and  his  subjects  as  to  how  far  each  may  push  their  prerog¬ 
ative  ;  and,  so  long  as  neither  exceed  these  limits,  to  use  their  own 
expression,  “  the  wheels  of  the  chariot  of  imperial  government  re¬ 
volve  smoothly  on  their  axles.”  So  it  happens  that  disturbances 
of  greater  or  less  import  are  constantly  occurring  in  various  parts 
of  the  country.  Sometimes  they  assume  the  most  formidable  di¬ 
mensions,  and  spread  like  a  running  fire  over  the  empire ;  but,  if 
they  are  not  founded  on  a  real  grievance,  they  are  not  supported 
by  popular  sympathy,  and  gradually  die  out,  the  smouldering  em¬ 
bers  kept  alive,  perhaps,  for  some  time,  by  the  exertions  of  the 
more  lawless  part  of  the  community.  But  the  last  spark  ulti¬ 
mately  expires,  and  its  blackened  trace  is  in  a  few  years  utterly 
effaced. 

The  late  rebellion  is  in  this  waning  stage.  Nor  did  the  impe¬ 
rial  government  trust  so  much  to  its  armies  as  to  the  inert  mass 
of  public  opinion  which  had  not  yet  decided  in  its  favor.  So 
long  as  the  capital  is  not  threatened,  and  the  lives  of  “the  powers 
that  are”  there  are  not  in  absolute  danger,  they  contemplate  with 
comparative  calmness  the  vicissitudes  through  which  remote  cities 
and  provinces  pass,  contented  to  wait  until  the  agitation  shall 
have  subsided,  and  then  resume  the  old  despotic  sway  as  though 
nothing  had  happened.  It  affects  their  repose  but  slightly  at  the 
capital  whether  rebel  or  foreigner  occupy  some  distant  city.  The 
patriotism  of  the  loyal  part  of  the  population  is  evoked  by  impe¬ 
rial  decree ;  whether  the  people  obediently  respond,  and  are  suc¬ 
cessful,  or  whether  they  are  unsuccessful,  or  whether  they  dis¬ 
obediently  refuse,  is  a  matter  which  seems  but  little  to  disturb  the 
philosophers  at  Pekin.  Either  the  imperial  authority  exists  ab¬ 
solutely,  or  it  has  been  entirely  extinguished.  In  the  latter  case, 
unprovided  with  adequate  physical  means  to  restore  it,  the  em¬ 
peror  is  forced  into  a  fatalistic  view  of  the  subject. 

A  better  illustration  of  the  truth  of  the  important  principles 
above  laid  down  could  not  be  afforded  than  in  the  case  of  Canton. 
The  instructions  furnished  by  the  emperor  to  Yeh  furnish  unmis¬ 
takable  evidence  of  the  inefficacy  of  protracted  diplomacy  at  a 
distance  to  influence  the  policy  of  the  imperial  government  in  its 
treatment  of  foreigners ;  while,  so  far  from  the  capture  of  Canton 


278 


THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  DIRECT  COMMUNICATION. 


— which  was  the  result  of  his  acting  in  accordance  with  those  in¬ 
structions — humbling  the  court  of  Pekin,  as  it  was  prophesied  at 
Hong  Kong  would  be  the  case,  the  hauteur  and  obstinacy  of  the 
imperial  government  were  increased  by  this  event.  The  prime 
minister  declined  to  communicate  direct  with  Lord  Elgin  accord¬ 
ing  to  treaty,  and  refused  to  send  commissioners  to  meet  him  at 
Shanghai.  At  a  later  period,  when  we  were  dallying  in  the  Gulf, 
orders  were  sent  down  to  Canton  calling  out  the  Braves,  who  im¬ 
mediately  responded  to  them,  and  attacked  the  city.  Shortly  aft¬ 
er  the  signing  of  the  treaty,  counter-orders  were  dispatched  dis¬ 
banding  them,  and  commanding  them  to  remain  at  peace  with 
foreigners,  and  these  were  also  ultimately  obeyed.  The  popular 
impression  among  the  British  heretofore  had  been  that  the  Can¬ 
ton  question  was  purely  local,  and  that  authorities  and  Braves 
were  alike  acting,  independently  of  orders  from  Pekin. 

But,  if  these  incidents  went  to  show  how  impossible  it  was  to 
influence  the  court  of  Pekin  by  coercion  applied  at  remote  parts 
of  the  empire,  still  more  hopeless  was  it  to  effect  this  object  by 
diplomacy  exercised  at  a  distance  from  the  seat  of  government. 
Yeh’s  stubbornness  and  Keying’s  shuffling  alike  proved  that  a 
provincial  governor,  charged  with  the  conduct  of  foreign  affairs, 
was  approved  of  at  court  only  so  long  as  he  could  show  that  he 
was  thwarting  the  barbarians,  whether  by  obstinacy  or  craft.  To 
bring  conviction  to  the  mind  of  a  functionary  so  situated  was  of 
little  avail,  because  it  only  made  him  an  object  of  suspicion  to  his 
imperial  master.  Lord  Elgin’s  observation  had  therefore  led  him 
to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  necessary  to  be  at  the  heart  to  affect 
the  extremities,  and  that  it  was  impossible  to  affect  the  heart 
through  the  extremities.  Conceiving  this  to  be  the  knot  of  the 
situation,  he  determined  to  establish  the  principle  of  direct  com¬ 
munication  between  the  British  embassador  and  the  imperial  min¬ 
isters  at  the  capital,  and  to  secure,  at  all  events,  the  right  of  the 
former  to  a  permanent  residence  at  Pekin.  It  would  rest  with  the 
government  whether  to  exercise  the  right  or  not,  attended  as  it 
doubtless  was  with  many  objections  of  a  practical  character,  such 
as  difficulties  of  access,  severity  of  climate,  absence  of  accommoda¬ 
tion  in  the  first  instance,  and  almost  absolute  isolation.  But,  what¬ 
ever  point  might  ultimately  be  fixed  upon  for  the  residence  of  the 
minister,  the  fact  that  he  had  a  right  to  be  at  Pekin  would  be  a 
source  of  influence  in  his  hands  scarcely  less  powerful  than  that 


Signing  of  the  Treaty  of  Tientsin 


X 


THE  CONCESSION  GAINED. 


281 


which  he  might  acquire  by  his  actual  presence  there,  and  the  dread 
of  his  exercising  that  right  operate  as  a  check  not  less  effectual 
than  if  it  was  already  in  existence.  It  would  still  be  through  the 
heart,  although  not  absolutely  at  it,  that  the  extremities  would  be 
affected.  It  will  be  seen  from  Lord  Elgin’s  dispatch  from  Shang¬ 
hai  of  the  5th  of  November,  which  I  have  placed  in  the  Append¬ 
ix,  upon  what  grounds  he  was  ultimately  induced  to  recommend 
non-residence  at  Pekin. 

The  decided  tone  held  by  Mr.  Bruce  having  convinced  the 
commissioners  of  the  hopelessness  of  farther  resistance  upon  these 
points,  it  was  arranged  that  the  treaty  should  be  signed  at  the 
hour  originally  named.  As  it  was  deemed  best  that  as  much 
eclat  as  possible  should  be  given  to  so  important  an  event,  the 
whole  strength  of  the  military  force  accompanied  Lord  Elgin  as 
a  guard  of  honor,  while  the  admiral  and  most  of  the  officers  of  the 
squadron  also  attended,  a  number  of  them  having  arrived  from 
the  ships  in  the  Gulf  for  the  purpose  of  being  present. 

The  procession  was  one  calculated  to  inspire  the  inhabitants  of 
Tientsin  with  some  respect — the  military  guard  of  400  men,  pre¬ 
ceded  by  the  band ;  the  long  array  of  chairs,  and  the  body  of  spec¬ 
tators  on  foot,  in  full  uniform,  extending  over  a  distance  of  nearly 
half  a  mile.  The  ships  in  the  river  were  dressed  out,  and  the 
crews  manned  the  yards  as  the  procession  filed  along  the  bank, 
which  was  lined  with  crowds  of  wondering  Chinese. 

In  consequence  of  the  heat  of  the  weather,  the  hour  fixed  for 
the  ceremony  was  somewhat  late,  and  it  was  nearly  dark  before 
we  had  traversed  the  winding  streets  of  the  suburb,  and  crossed 
the  plain  in  which  the  u  Temple  of  the  Oceanic  Influences”  was 
situated.  We  were  received  in  the  same  hall  which  had  been 
the  scene  of  the  former  conference,  but  it  was  arranged  in  a  more 
business-like  manner.  Instead  of  the  long  table  covered  with  re¬ 
freshments,  three  small  square  tables  occupied  the  centre  of  the 
apartment.  At  the  middle  one  of  these  Lord  Elgin  took  his  seat, 
flanked  by  a  commissioner  on  either  side.  The  admiral,  together 
with  some  of  the  naval  officers  and  members  of  the  mission,  were 
seated  at  the  other  tables,  and  the  remaining  space  was  densely 
crowded  with  European  and  Chinese  spectators.  Three  large 
paper  lanterns  lighted  the  business-tables,  upon  which  the  various 
copies  of  the  treaty  were  soon  spread  out,  and  the  process  of  sign¬ 
ing  and  sealing  commenced,  the  interest  of  the  ceremony  being 


282 


SIGNING  OF  THE  TREATY. 


sufficient  to  retain  in  silence  tlie  miscellaneous  throng  who  were 
watching  it. 

Thus  expired,  on  its  fifteenth  birthday,  the  treaty  negotiated  by 
Sir  Henry  Pottinger  in  1848 ;  for,  by  a  curious  coincidence,  the 
day  of  the  signing  of  the  Treaty  of  Tientsin  was  the  anniversary 
of  the  day  upon  which  the  Treaty  of  Nankin  was  ratified. 

After  the  treaty  was  signed,  tea  and  refreshments  were  handed 
round,  though  the  commissioners  had  scarcely  provided  for  the 
reception  of  so  many  visitors.  The  Chinese  attendants  on  the 
commissioners  remained  closely  grouped  round  their  chiefs ;  while 
the  exploratory  propensities  of  British  naval  officers,  and  the  reck¬ 
less  enterprise  with  which  the  more  juvenile  portion  of  them  at¬ 
tacked  every  species  of  unwholesome  dish  that  was  placed  in  their 
way,  rendered  it  desirable,  for  their  own  sakes,  not  to  prolong  the 
ceremony  unhecessarily.  It  was  nevertheless  quite  dark  before 
the  procession  started  on  its  return  to  the  yamun.  As  we  passed 
alone;  the  brink  of  the  river,  the  crews  of  both  French  and  En- 
glish  ships  sent  up  long  and  hearty  cheers,  and  Admiral  Eigault’s 
band  welcomed  us  with  the  national  anthem. 

On  the  following  evening,  when  Baron  Grros  signed  his  treaty, 
there  was  an  improvement  in  the  programme ;  for,  as  the  long 
procession  of  blue-coated  and  white-gaitered  French  marines  were 
filing  along  the  river’s  bank,  the  darkness  was  suddenly  dispelled 
by  the  blaze  of  blue-lights,  and  the  Chinese  crowd  found  itself 
unexpectedly  brought  out  in  strong  relief  beneath  their  vivid 
glare;  and  with  ears  deafened  with  the  shouts  of  hundreds  of 
barbarian  throats,  and  eyes  dazzled  by  the  unearthly  brilliancy 
which  illuminated  the  scene,  they  gazed  in  amazement  on  each 
other,  and  their  own  muddy  river,  and  wondered,  perhaps,  wheth¬ 
er  the  treaties,  the  signing  of  which  was  being  thus  vividly  im¬ 
pressed  upon  their  memory,  would  work  as  great  a  transforma¬ 
tion  in  the  empire  as  the  process  of  obtaining  them  had  effected 
in  their  own  city. 

On  entering  our  yamun  Lord  Elgin  received  the  congratula¬ 
tions  of  Baron  Grros;  and,  indeed,  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  de¬ 
scribe  the  feelings  of  satisfaction  we  experienced  on  this  most  suc¬ 
cessful  termination  to  the  doubts  and  anxieties  of  the  past  year. 
It  wanted  but  a  few  days  of  the  anniversary  of  our  first  arrival 
in  the  Celestial  Empire ;  and,  although  much  doubtless  remained 
to  be  done  before  we  could  hope  to  turn  our  faces  homeward,  our 


A  RETROSPECT. 


283 


future  labors  would  be  of  a  far  more  pleasing  character  than  those 
which  had  just  been  concluded.  Up  to  this  point  we  had  met 
with  a  series  of  disappointments ;  now  we  were  sanguine  enough 
to  hope  that  an  era  of  success  was  about  to  commence. 

We  could  bear  tranquilly  to  review  the  history  of  the  events 
of  the  past  year.  We  could  recall  the  effect  produced  by  the 
first  staggering  intelligence  we  received  at  Galle  of  the  Indian 
mutinies,  and  the  consequent  diversion  at  Singapore  of  all  our 
thoughts  and  energies  from  China  to  Bengal,  and  remember  how 
our  three  weeks’  stay  there  was  devoted  to  the  annihilation  of  all 
our  hopes  and  plans,  while  Lord  Elgin  was  solely  employed  in 
divesting  himself  of  all  his  means  for  carrying  out  the  objects  of 
his  mission.  We  thought  of  the  time  when  it  seemed  so  hopeless 
that  these  were  ever  to  be  achieved — that  we  went  to  India  in 
sheer  despair — and  learned  for  our  consolation  that,  though  the 
China  force  had  saved  Bengal,  the  China  mission  had  lost  all  claim 
to  public  interest  in  presence  of  the  appalling  events  occurring  in 
this  quarter;  we  recollected  with  horror  the  dismal  months  we 
spent  in  the  harbor  of  Hong  Kong,  living  on  board  a  Peninsular 
and  Oriental  Company’s  steamer  during  the  hottest  and  stormiest 
season  of  the  year,  uncertain  whether  a  force  was  ever  coming  to 
relieve  us  from  our  inaction. 

There  were  other  and  more  recent  periods  which  afforded  us 
very  little  satisfaction  to  look  back  upon,  and  when  our  anxieties 
were  felt  the  more  keenly  because  it  seemed  likely  that  the  prize 
was  to  be  snatched  from  us  when  it  was  within  our  very  grasp ; 
but  we  could  afford  to  laugh  now  at  these  reminiscences,  and  the 
adverse  influences  which  seemed  to  have  beset  our  path  from  the 
commencement  only  served  to  enhance  the  pleasure  of  success. 
Hostilities  with  the  Empire  of  China  had  terminated  with  a  loss  to 
the  British  arms  of  about  twenty  men  killed  in  action  (since  our 
first  arrival  in  the  empire),  and  a  treaty  had  been  signed  far  more 
extensive  in  its  scope,  and  more  subversive  of  imperial  preju¬ 
dices  than  that  concluded  fifteen  years  before,  after  a  bloody  and 
expensive  war,  which  had  been  protracted  over  a  period  of  two 
years.  The  reflection  that  we  should  probably  be  compelled  to 
return  to  the  south  without  visiting  Pekin  would  indeed  force  it¬ 
self  painfully  upon  us ;  but,  for  the  moment,  satisfaction  predom¬ 
inated,  and  we  endeavored  to  keep  gloomy  thoughts  out  of  view. 

As  the  result,  then,  of  the  process  applied  to  the  imperial  gov- 


284 


THE  TRANSIT-DUES. 


ernment,  we  had  obtained,  first,  the  two  points  of  a  resident  min¬ 
ister  at  Pekin,  and  permission  to  travel  and  trade  in  all  parts  of 
the  empire  already  referred  to.  Next,  besides  Teng-chow  in  the 
province  of  Shantung,  and  the  ports  opened  in  the  islands  of 
Hainan  and  Formosa  by  the  other  treaties,  we  opened  New- 
chwang  in  Manchouria.  The  political  importance  of  this  latter 
port  will  be  evident  from  a  glance  at  the  map,  in  which  will  be 
seen  that  it  is  the  nearest  sea-port  to  the  Soongary  River,  a  tribu¬ 
tary  to  the  Amoor,  and  navigable  for  steamers  as  far  as  Petune ; 
it  is  also  the  port  of  Moukhden,  the  imperial  capital  of  Manchou¬ 
ria.  In  addition  to  these  ports  we  opened  Chin-kiang,  and  secured 
the  ports  on  the  River  Yang-tse-Kiang  between  that  point  and 
Hankow,  a  celebrated  mercantile  emporium  in  the  heart  of  the 
empire.  A  condition  was  attached  to  this  concession,  declaring 
that  it  was  not  to  come  into  effect  until  the  rebels  were  expelled 
from  its  shores. 

Lastly — and  this,  perhaps,  in  a  commercial  point  of  view,  was 
the  most  important  clause  of  the  treaty — the  much-vexed  ques¬ 
tion  of  transit-dues  was  finally  set  at  rest.  A  few  words  are  nec¬ 
essary  in  explanation  of  this  clause.  Some  misapprehension  has 
prevailed  in  England  as  to  the  nature  of  these  duties,  and  they 
were  for  some  time  regarded  as  applied  only  to  foreign  produce 
passing  into  the  interior,  and  to  native  produce  intended  for  ex¬ 
portation.  It  is,  however,  universally  understood  and  admitted 
in  China  that  the  transit-dues  are  a  tax  in  the  form  of  an  octroi , 
levied  upon  all  produce  indiscriminately  which  passes  into  the  in¬ 
terior  provinces  of  the  empire,  or  from  one  to  another.  Inasmuch, 
then,  as  it  is  one  of  the  permanent  sources  of  revenue  to  the  Chi¬ 
nese  government,  to  demand  the  total  abolition  of  these  dues 
would  have  been  a  harsh  and  unjustifiable  measure;  nor  was  it 
likely  that  the  imperial  government  would  have  consented  to  a 
domestic  change  involving  such  an  enormous  sacrifice  of  revenue. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  Treaty  of  Nankin  left  the  question  in  so 
unsatisfactory  a  state,  that  it  has  ever  since  proved  a  permanent 
source  of  complaint  to  the  British  merchant.  That  treaty  simply 
provided  that  the  transit-duty  should  not  be  increased  beyond  the 
then  existing  rates;  but,  as  those  rates  were  never  ascertained, 
this  provision  proved,  in  effect,  of  no  avail,  and  two  evil  conse¬ 
quences  followed  from  the  position  in  which  the  matter  was  left. 
In  the  first  place,  a  number  of  articles — and  more  especially  the 


CLIMATE  OF  TIENTSIN. 


285 


important  article  of  tea — were  subjected  occasionally  to  very 
heavy  imposts  under  the  name  of  Tea-duties,  whereby,  in  point  of 
fact,  the  provisions  of  the  tariff  were  in  a  great  measure  rendered 
nugatory.  In  the  second  place,  the  power  of  indefinite  taxation, 
thus  left  to  the  Chinese  government,  introduced  an  element  of 
great  uncertainty  into  mercantile  transactions  both  in  exports  and 
imports. 

In  the  various  suggestions  and  communications  which,  at  Lord 
Elgin’s  invitation,  had  been  given  to  him  by  different  mercantile 
bodies  in  China,  this  difficulty  had  been  repeatedly  referred  to, 
but  none  of  them  contained  any  plan  for  its  removal.  It  was  met 
in  the  British  treaty  negotiated  at  Tientsin  by  an  article  enabling 
the  British  merchant  to  purchase,  at  the  rate  of  2-J  per  cent,  ad 
valorem ,  in  the  case  of  imports  at  the  port  of  entry,  and  in  the  case 
of  exports  at  the  first  inland  barrier  through  which  his  commodi¬ 
ties  would  pass,  a  certificate  enabling  him  to  carry  his  goods  duty 
free,  in  the  latter  case,  to  the  port  of  shipment,  and  in  the  former 
to  any  place  in  the  interior  of  China  to  which  it  may  be  destined. 

In  a  separate  clause  the  amount  of  indemnity  claimed  by  us  for 
losses  sustained  at  Canton  was  stated  at  two  millions  of  taels 
(about  £650,000),  and  a  farther  sum  of  two  million  taels  was 
claimed  in  compensation  for  the  expenses  of  the  war. 

The  above  were  the  most  important  points  in  which  the  British 
Treaty  of  Tientsin  differed  from  the  other  treaties  signed  at  the 
same  place  and  time.  The  first  great  step  having  been  thus 
achieved  toward  the  placing  of  our  relations  with  the  Celestial 
Empire  upon  a  new  and  more  substantial  basis  than  had  hitherto 
subsisted,  it  only  remained  for  Lord  Elgin  to  await  the  imperial 
assent  to  the  treaty  which  had  just  been  negotiated  ere  he  finally 
bade  adieu  to  Tientsin.  Our  experience  of  this  “heavenly  spot” 
had  now  extended  over  a  period  of  a  month,  and  we  were  not 
sorry  to  think  that  it  was  soon  to  be  brought  to  a  termination. 
During  the  last  few  days  the  temperature  had  been  rapidly  in¬ 
creasing.  At  first  we  had  hot  days,  but  the  nights  were  cool,  and 
the  thermometer  sometimes  showed  a  variety  of  20°  in  the  twen¬ 
ty-four  hours ;  now,  however,  the  nights  were  beginning  to  be  op¬ 
pressive,  and  the  thermometer  ranged  from  90°  to  96°  in  the 
coolest  part  of  the  yamun.  I  am  indebted  to  our  medical  attend¬ 
ant,  Dr.  Saunders,  for  the  annexed  register  of  the  temperature  dur¬ 
ing  our  stay  at  Tientsin.  Although  the  thermometer  showed  so 


286 


GEOGRAPHY  OF  THE  COUNTRY. 


high  a  range,  the  heat  was  not  accompanied  by  those  debilitating 
effects  which  so  often  attend  it  in  tropical  latitudes.  The  air  was 
dry  and  pure,  and  the  general  health  of  the  squadron  remained 
good.  We  had  been  threatened  with  a  rainy  season  in  June,  but, 
with  the  exception  of  one  or  two  heavy  showers,  the  weather  con¬ 
tinued  fine  throughout  the  month. 

It  was,  indeed,  much  to  be  regretted  that — as,  during  the  first 
portion  of  our  occupation  of  the  river  and  Gulf,  the  climate  was 
so  favorable  to  the  health  of  the  men — nothing  should  have  been 
accomplished  in  surveying  the  unknown  mouths  of  the  Peiho  and 
in  exploring  some  of  its  tributaries.  For  a  period  of  three  months 
upward  of  twenty  men-of-war  lay  idle  in  the  Gulf,  and  during  a 
number  of  weeks  our  gun-boats  navigated  the  Peiho,  yet  we  sail¬ 
ed  away  from  those  shores  with  our  geographical  knowledge  as 
limited  as  when  we  first  arrived  there.  Beyond  pulling  for  about 
two  miles  up  the  Grand  Canal,  we  know  nothing  more  of  the  course 
or  depth  of  water  of  that  channel  of  communication  than  is  furnish¬ 
ed  in  the  records  of  the  former  embassies.  As  far  as  we  went,  we 
found  water  enough  for  gun-boats,  the  banks  being  in  places  built 
up  with  wheat-straw  and  matting.  The  course  is  very  winding, 
as  indeed  in  this  place  it  is,  properly  speaking,  not  a  canal,  but  a 
river,  into  which  the  Grand  Canal  is  led  some  miles  above  its 
junction  with  the  Peiho.  It  is  called  by  the  Chinese  the  Grain¬ 
bearing  River.  About  a  mile  higher  up  the  Peiho,  and  debouch¬ 
ing  into  it  on  the  same  side  as  the  Grand  Canal,  is  a  smaller  canal, 
which  takes  a  southerly  course  across  the  wheat  plain,  and  was 
reported  to  lead  to  Ho-kien  and  the  Peh-hu  lake,  and  so  into  the 
southern  parts  of  the  province  of  Shansee. 

About  half  a  mile  beyond  this  canal  the  Peiho  is  entered  by  a 
river  apparently  exceeding  it  in  size  and  volume,  commonly  known 
as  the  Yen-ho,  or  Great  Salt  River.  It  is  spanned  by  a  bridge  of 
boats  at  its  point  of  junction;  and,  to  judge  from  the  number  and 
size  of  the  junks  with  which  the  stream  was  crowded,  must  be  an 
important  channel  of  internal  communication.  Sir  Frederick  ISTic- 
olson  pulled  up  it  for  a  few  hundred  yards,  and  brought  back  a 
poor  account  of  the  depth  of  water  ;  but  I  have  ridden  along  its 
banks  for  some  miles,  and  have  seen  junks  navigating  it  whose 
draught  of  water  must  have  equaled,  if  not  exceeded,  that  of  our 
smallest  class  of  gun-boats.  The  direction  which  this  river  takes 
renders  it  important  that  we  should  know  its  cajoabilities,  as  it 


ABUNDANCE  OF  ICE.  287 

reaches  a  point  to  the  west  of  Pekin  as  near  to  that  city  as  the 
Peiho  approaches  it  on  the  east. 

The  only  channel  of  water-communication  we  observed  to  enter 
the  Peiho  on  its  left  bank  was  a  small  canal  which  debouched  op¬ 
posite  the  peninsula  upon  which  our  yamun  was  situated.  As  far 
as  I  followed  this  canal,  it  pursued  a  northerly  direction  across  the 
barren-looking  steppe  which  I  have  already  described.  Its  course 
was  marked  not  so  much  by  the  usual  line  of  trees  as  by  large  iso¬ 
lated  mud  villages,  which  doubtless  it  supplied  with  the  means  of  , 
intercommunication.  It  was  navigated  by  very  small  junks,  a 
number  of  which  were  often  fastened  in  a  long  string  to  each 
other,  and  punted  along  till  they  came  to  a  sharp  turn  or  other 
impediment,  when  they  would  break  up  like  a  raft.  This  canal, 

I  strongly  suspect,  connected  the  Peiho  with  the  stream  usually 
known  as  its  northern  mouth,  and  which  enters  the  Gulf  about 
ten  miles  to  the  north  of  Takoo ;  but  this  is  mere  conjecture,  as  I 
could  not  obtain  any  reliable  information  on  the  subject.  From 
the  different  accounts  one  received  in  answer  to  geographical  in¬ 
quiries,  it  was  evident  how  reluctant  the  people  were  to  impart 
knowledge  of  their  country  to  the  barbarian. 

If  the  climate  of  Tientsin  was  latterly  somewhat  oppressive,  we 
could,  at  all  events,  luxuriate  freely  in  that  most  powerful  allevia¬ 
tion  to  the  discomfort  of  intense  heat — ice.  The  whole  population 
could  revel  in  it  if  they  chose.  Boat-loads  of  it  traversed  the  riv¬ 
er — coolies  staggered  under  the  refreshing  burden  along  the  broil¬ 
ing  streets — beggars  stood  at  corners  and  sold  it  for  infinitesimal 
sums,  and  other  beggars  came  and  bought  it.  Food  of  all  sorts 
was  abundant,  and  our  requisitions  in  this  respect  were  promptly 
attended  to  ;  though  it  must  be  confessed  that,  in  respect  of  beef, 
they  were  sometimes  a  little  unreasonable,  as  all  the  cattle  are 
used  in  these  parts  for  draught  purposes  only,  a  fact  which  their 
well-shod  hoofs  undeniably  attested.  Coarse  but  not  ill-flavored 
apricots,  and  coarser  peaches,  with  small  marsh-melons  and  apples 
and  pears,  furnished  us  with  dessert,  and  the  sailors  in  the  river 
with  the  maladies  incidental  to  an  indiscriminate  use  of  fruit  in  a 
hot  climate. 

The  court-yard  of  the  yamun,  roofed  over  with  matting,  always 
afforded  us  a  cool  and  agreeable  lounge.  In  its  grateful  shade  we 
played  quoits  and  established  a  skittle-alley,  a  game  which  had 
the  merit  of  being,  at  all  events,  as  aristocratic  in  the  eyes  of  the 


288 


CURIOSITY-HUNTING. 


Chinese  as  any  other,  and  of  giving  us  exercise  when  it  was  im¬ 
possible  to  face  the  rays  of  the  sun,  even  as  it  was  sinking  below 
the  horizon.  Unlike  the  sun  of  the  tropics,  merciful  during  the 
final  hour  of  his  existence,  the  sun  at  Tientsin  darted  fiery  rays  at 
you  up  to  the  last  moment  of  the  long  summer  day. 

On  Sundays  this  sheltered  court  was  turned  into  a  place  of 
worship.  The  pulpit  was  on  one  of  the  raised  platforms  contain¬ 
ing  the  emperor’s  handwriting,  the  roof  adorned  with  dragons 
and  the  mystic  signs  of  Confucian  philosophy.  Army,  navy,  and 
diplomacy  seated  themselves  in  the  quoit-ground  and  skittle-alley, 
grouped  themselves  round  the  majestic  old  tree  which  stood  in 
the  centra,  or  took  up  a  position  beneath  a  collection  of  gods  and 
goddesses,  who  gazed  as  imperturbably  at  the  scene  on  one  side 
as  a  group  of  Chinese  did  on  the  other.  It  was  a  picturesque, 
but,  at  the  same  time,  an  impressive  ceremony,  none  the  less  sug¬ 
gestive  in  its  simplicity  because  brought  into  such  close  and  strik¬ 
ing  contrast  with  the  mixed  emblems  of  an  obscure  metaphysical 
system  on  the  one  hand,  and  a  debasing  superstition  on  the  other. 

After  we  had  signed  the  treaty,  and  a  proclamation  had  been 
issued  by  the  commissioners  informing  the  Chinese  public  that 
the  foreigners  now  in  the  river  might  shortly  be  expected  to  evac¬ 
uate  it,  the  people  began  to  regain  their  confidence ;  new  shops 
were  opening  daily  in  the  suburbs,  and  curiosity -hunting,  com¬ 
menced  with  that  energy  which  seems  to  distinguish  the  “  barba¬ 
rian”  of  every  “outside  nation”  when  he  visits  the  “Central 
Flowery  Land.”  The  great  inconvenience  attending  this  amuse¬ 
ment  at  Tientsin  was  in  the  medium  of  circulation.  We  had 
brought  with  us  a  quantity  of  sycee  silver,  but  the  weighing  out 
of  a  mass  of  particles  of  silver  for  each  purchase  was  a  tiresome 
and  uncertain  operation.  Mexican  dollars  were  taken,  but  not 
very  freely,  and  then  for  much  less  than  their  value,  while  the 
only  small  change  current  was  copper  cash,  of  which  a  dollar’s 
worth  weighs  from  ten  to  fifteen  lbs.  The  simplest  plan  of  di¬ 
viding  a  dollar  was  to  cut  it  in  halves  with  a  chopper,  and  redi¬ 
vide  them  if  you  wanted  to  purchase  a  shilling’s  worth  of  any 
thing;  but  it  was  as  inconvenient  to  carry  a  chopper  in  one’s 
purse  as  ten  pounds’  weight  of  copper,  or  a  pair  of  scales,  which 
were  the  other  alternatives.  Moreover,  there  was  very  little  worth 
buying,  and  I  saw  no  good  old  China,  enamel,  bronzes,  or  any  of 
those  articles  which  form  the  staple  of  Chinese  works  of  “  virtu.” 


I 


DUPLICITY  OP  THE  COMMISSIONERS.  289 


CHAPTER  XX. 

Duplicity  of  the  Commissioners. — Arrival  of  the  Emperor’s  Assent. — Arrival  of  Re¬ 
enforcements. — Abandonment  of  Visit  to  Pekin. — Consequences  of  Delay. — State 
of  Matters  in  the  South. — Final  Visit  to  Commissioners. — Death  of  the  Prime  Min¬ 
ister  Yu. — Hwashana’s  Poems. — “  Old”  Chang :  his  poetical  Effusions. — Departure 
from  Tientsin. — The  Great  Wall. — State  of  Matters  in  the  South. — Appointment 
of  five  Commissioners. — Military  Government  of  Canton. — Lord  Elgin’s  Dispatch 
to  the  General. — Departure  for  Japan. 

Although,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  diplomatic  routine,  it  is 
considered  unnecessary  to  procure,  before  ratification,  the  assent 
of  the  sovereign  to  a  treaty  negotiated  between  specially  appoint¬ 
ed  plenipotentiaries,  Lord  Elgin  decided  upon  adopting  the  course 
followed  by  Sir  Henry  Pottinger  in  the  Treaty  of  Xankin,  and 
obtaining  the  imperial  assent  to  the  treaty,  the  ratifications  of 
which,  it  had  been  arranged,  should  be  exchanged  at  Pekin  with¬ 
in  the  period  of  a  year  from  the  date  of  its  signature.  His  intention 
to  this  effect  was  expressed  to  the  commissioners,  who,  accordingly, 
four  days  after  it  was  signed,  forwarded  to  his  lordship  a  communi¬ 
cation  in  which  they  stated  that  they  had  received  an  imperial  au¬ 
tograph  rescript  to  the  following  effect:  “We  have  perused  your 
memorial  and  know  all.  Respect  this.”  As  the  fact  of  the  em¬ 
peror’s  cognizance  of  “  all”  did  not  by  any  means  imply  his  as¬ 
sent  to  it,  the  embassador  replied  that  he  “was  still  awaiting  his 
majesty’s  approval  to  the  conditions  of  the  treaty.”  In  answer 
to  which,  the  commissioners  stated  that,  “  as  soon  as  we  shall  have 
in  person  presented  the  originals  of  the  different  nations’  treaties, 
with  the  seals  and  signatures,  to  his  majesty  at  the  capital,  and 
received  the  ratification  of  them  in  the  imperial  autograph,  it  shall 
be  transmitted,  with  all  speed,  to  Shanghai  for  the  information 
of  your  excellency.” 

Lord  Elgin,  in  reply  to  the  above  communication,  states  “  that 
he  can  not  consider  peace  to  be  re-established  until  he  shall  have 
been  satisfied  of  the  emperor’s  entire  acceptance  of  the  conditions 
agreed  to  by  the  commissioners  as  his  majesty’s  plenipotentiaries. 
That  the  undersigned  is  neither  acting  nor  insisting  upon  more 
than  is  justified  by  the  usage  of  the  empire,  is  shown  by  the  de- 

T 


290 


ARRIVAL  OF  THE  EMPEROR’S  ASSENT. 


cree  of  the  late  emperor,  a  copy  of  which  he  has  the  honor  to  in¬ 
close.  Within  a  few  days  of  its  arrival  at  Nankin,  Sir  H.  Pottin- 
ger  began  to  move  his  fleet  down  the  Yang-tse-Kiang.  The  un¬ 
dersigned  is  bound  to  require  an  assurance,  similarly  complete,  of 
the  purpose  of  his  present  majesty  to  abide  by  the  engagements 
entered  into  on  his  behalf.  Without  such  an  assurance  the  un¬ 
dersigned  can  not  quit  Tientsin,  and  delay  in  procuring  it  will 
leave  him  no  other  alternative  but  to  order  up  to  that  city  the 
large  body  of  troops  which  has  arrived  from  Hong  Kong,  and  is 
now  lying  in  the  Gulf  of  Pechelee.” 

This  letter  was  followed  up  by  a  prompt  requisition  for  barrack 
accommodation  for  the  59th  regiment,  which  had  recently  arrived 
in  the  Gulf  in  the  troop-ship  Adventure.  It  produced  an  imme¬ 
diate  effect,  the  commissioners  replying  the  same  day,  and  promis¬ 
ing  to  procure  the  required  assent,  all  difficulty  on  the  subject 
being  removed  from  their  minds  by  the  fact  which  had  been 
brought  to  their  notice  of  the  existence  of  a  precedent. 

Accordingly,  on  the  4th  of  July,  or  only  two  days  afterward,  a 
letter  was  received  from  the  commissioners  with  the  following  in¬ 
closure  :  11  On  the  23d  day  of  the  5th  moon  of  the  8th  year  of 
Hien  Pung  (3d  of  July),  the  great  council  had  the  honor  to  receive 
the  following  imperial  decree : 

“  Kweiliang  and  his  colleagues  have  submitted  for  our  perusal 
copies  of  the  treaties  of  the  different  nations.  These  have  been 
negotiated  and  sealed  by  Kweiliang  and  his  colleague.  As  Kwei¬ 
liang  and  his  colleague  now  represent  that  the  different  nations 
are  desirous  of  having  our  autograph  acknowledgment  as  evidence 
of  their  validity,  we  (hereby  signify)  our  assent  to  all  the  proposi¬ 
tions  in  the  English  and  French,  and  in  the  Russian  and  American 
treaties,  as  submitted  to  us  in  their  previous  memorial  by  these 
ministers,  and  we  command  that  the  course  pursued  be  in  accord¬ 
ance  therewith.  Respect  this.” 

With  reference  to  this  imperial  decree,  Mr.  Wade  states  in  his 
note  on  the  above  document  that  “these  Shang-yu  imperial  de¬ 
crees  are  never  in  autograph.  They  are  prepared  by  the  council, 
and  go  forth  as  the  will  of  the  emperor.  It  will  be  remembered 
with  what  ceremony  Kweiliang  produced  that  declaring  the  pow¬ 
ers  with  which  he  and  Hwashana  were  invested  at  their  first  con¬ 
ference  with  Lord  Elgin.”  It  will  be  observed  that  this  decree, 
which  was  only  forced  out  of  the  emperor  by  Lord  Elgin’s  perti- 


ABANDONMENT  OF  VISIT  TO  PEKIN. 


291 


nacity,  was  in  general  terms,  and  applied  to  tlie  treaties  made  by 
the  other  powers  as  well  as  ourselves. 

The  59th  were  actually  on  their  way  up  the  river  in  gun-boats 
when  this  letter  arrived.  Their  advance  was  at  once  counter¬ 
manded,  and  they  returned  to  Hong  Kong  without  ever  having 
reached  Tientsin,  but  not  without  having  done  good  service. 

It  was,  indeed,  with  feelings  of  the  deepest  regret  and  disap¬ 
pointment  that,  in  consequence  of  the  news  which  now  arrived 
from  Canton,  Lord  Elgin  found  himself  compelled  to  give  this 
order,  and  to  abandon  his  original  intention  of  visiting  Pekin  in 
order  to  present  to  the  emperor  the  letter  with  which  he  had  been 
accredited  by  her  majesty.  The  very  success  which  had  attended 
our  operations  hitherto,  and  the  facility^  with  which  they  had  been 
carried  out,  only  furnished  a  more  unmistakable  proof  of  the  ease 
with  which  we  might  have  reached  Pekin,  had  we  been  at  Tien¬ 
tsin  two  months  earlier,  when  Canton  and  its  neighborhood  were 
still  tranquil,  when  the  Chinese  were  unprepared,  and  the  climate 
was  that  of  an  English  spring.  The  political  importance  of  such 
an  achievement  it  is  impossible  to  overestimate.  The  much- vexed 
question  of  the  reception  of  a  British  minister  at  the  capital  would 
have  been  set  at  rest  forever,  and  under  peculiarly  favorable  con¬ 
ditions.  .  • 

Now,  unfortunately,  every  thing  combined  to  induce  his  excel¬ 
lency  to  abandon  the  idea.  A  Tartar  force  had  collected  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  capital  during  the  last  two  months,  and,  al¬ 
though  a  visit  to  Pekin  after  the  signature  of  the  treaty  of  peace 
would  not  have  had  a  hostile  character,  yet  it  would  have  been 
distasteful  to  the  emperor,  and  it  must,  in  common  prudence,  have 
preceded  the  evacuation  of  Tientsin  by  the  allied  force.  A  state 
of  affairs  had,  however,  arisen  in  the  south  that  made  it  impera¬ 
tive  that  neither  the  naval  nor  military  force  should  be  detained 
in  the  north  any  longer  than  was  absolutely  necessary.  More¬ 
over,  the  sun  was  in  its  most  fatal  month,  and  a  march  of  fifty 
miles  would  be  attended  with  serious  consequences,  while  the  eclat 
and  prestige  of  any  such  movement  would  have  been  very  much 
neutralized  by  the  dilatory  nature  of  the  negotiations,  and  the  ap¬ 
parent  vacillation  at  the  outset. 

Thus  every  one  of  those  evil  results,  as  arising  out  of  the  delay, 
which  had  been  anticipated  by  Lord  Elgin  at  Shanghai  more  than 
three  months  before,  and  to  avoid  which  he  felt  justified  in  pro- 


292 


STATE  OF  MATTERS  IN  THE  SOUTH. 


ceeding  to  the  north  without  waiting  for  the  admiral,  had  been 
realized.* 

On  the  26th  of  May  Lord  Elgin  had  received  a  communication 
from  General  Straubenzee  assuring  him  of  the  perfect  tranquillity 
of  Canton,  and  of  his  ability  to  spare  a  large  share  of  his  troops 
for  operations  in  the  north,  should  they  become  necessary.  In 
consequence  of  this  assurance,  Lord  Elgin  did  not  hesitate,  imme¬ 
diately  on  his  arrival  at  Tientsin,  to  write  to  him  requesting  him 
to  send  up  the  force  available  for  the  purpose,  and  on  the  30th  of 
June  these  reached  the  Gulf.  They  brought  with  them,  however, 
intelligence  of  a  totally  altered  condition  of  affairs  from  that  which 
had  existed  only  a  few  weeks  previously.  Sufficient  time  had 
elapsed  since  our  first  appearance  in  the  Gulf  to  enable  the  Chi¬ 
nese  government  to  instigate  the  Braves  to  attack  Canton.  Their 
assaults  on  the  city,  the  expedition  of  our  troops  to  the  White 
Cloud  Mountains,  and  the  increased  audacity  of  the  Braves  in 
consequence  of  the  unsuccessful  issue  of  this  operation,  was  news 
which  imparted  to  the  state  of  matters  at  Canton  a  more  serious 
aspect  than  they  had  yet  worn.  Although,  from  our  previous 
acquaintance  with  both  the  foreign  and  Chinese  community,  we 
were  aware  that  the  panic  which  existed  in  the  south  was  proba¬ 
bly  to  a  great  extent  groundless,  still  the  representations  generally 
made  of  the  nature  of  the  crisis  were  too  urgent  to  be  disregarded. 
From  the  effect  they  produced  in  England  some  idea  may  be 
formed  of  the  sensation  they  were  calculated  to  create  at  Tientsin. 

*  The  Earl  of  Elgin  to  the  Earl  of  Clarendon. 

“  Shanghai,  April  3, 185S. 

“My  Lord, — The  Coromandel,  tender  to  Rear  Admiral  Sir  Michael  Seymour’s 
flag-ship,  has  just  arrived  in  this  harbor,  and  reports  that  the  admiral  did  not  intend 
to  leave  Hong  Kong  before  the  25th  ult.  He  can  not,  therefore,  be  expected  here 
before  the  middle  of  this  month.  If  I  were  to  postpone  my  departure  for  the  north 
until  after  the  admiral’s  arrival,  I  think,  and  I  believe  that  my  opinion  on  this  point 
is  shared  by  the  plenipotentiaries  of  the  other  great  powers  who  are  acting  in  concert 
with  us  in  this  quarter,  that  the  interests  of  the  public  service  would  suffer,  for  the 
following  reasons :  Firstly,  because  the  Chinese  would  impute  the  delay  to  vacillation 
and  weakness ;  secondly,  because  we  should  lose  our  hold  on  the  rice-junks  destined 
for  Pekin,  which  are  now  proceeding  toward  the  north,  and  may  yet  be  arrested,  if 
necessary,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Peiho ;  thirdly,  because,  if  the  information  I  have  re¬ 
ceived  from  Count  Poutiatine  on  this  head  be  correct,  the  season  for  operations  in 
the  region  to  which  we  are  proceeding  terminates  with  the  end  of  the  month  of  May. 
I  have,  therefore,  taken  it  upon  myself,  in  the  absence  of  Admiral  Seymour,  to  address 
to  the  senior  officers  at  Shanghai  and  Hong  Kong  letters,  of  which  I  herewith  inclose 
copies,  and  which,  I  trust,  will  be  approved  by  your  lordship.” — Blue-Book ,  p.  258. 


FINAL  VISIT  TO  COMMISSIONERS. 


293 


To  keep  troops  in  the  north  after  the  treaty  had  received  the 
emperor’s  assent,  and  when  it  was  reported  that  the  British  com¬ 
munity  at  Hong  Kong  were  to  be  ruthlessly  massacred,  and  the 
British  garrison  in  Canton  ignominiously  expelled,  for  want  of  a 
sufficient  military  force  to  protect  the  one  place  and  retain  the 
other,  would  be  clearly  unjustifiable;  and  Lord  Elgin  at  once  re¬ 
turned  the  whole  force  to  General  Straubenzee,  in  the  earnest  hope 
that  they  might  arrive  in  time  to  enable  him  to  restore  confidence 
by  administering  to  the  Braves  that  lesson,  without  which,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  opinion  generally  entertained,  they  would  never  be  im¬ 
bued  with  a  proper  respect  for  British  authority.  With  this  view 
he  reminded  his  excellency  “that  the  power  of  resorting  to  such 
hostile  operations  as  they  might  deem  necessary  for  the  security 
of  their  military  position  at  Canton  was  reserved  to  the  command¬ 
ers-in-chief,  in  the  most  ample  terms,  in  the  communication  ad¬ 
dressed  by  the  plenipotentiaries  to  the  government  of  China,  which 
formed  the  subject  of  my  letter  to  yourself  and  Sir  Michael  Sey¬ 
mour,  dated  the  6th  of  February  last.” 

Before  leaving  Tientsin  Lord  Elgin  intimated  his  desire  to  meet 
the  commissioners  in  a  semi-official  manner ;  and  accordingly,  on 
the  morning  of  the  6th  of  July,  we  proceeded  to  the  “  Temple  of 
the  Winds,  which  was  not  so  distant  as  that  at  which  the  former 
interviews  were  held,  and  there  paid  a  friendly  visit  to  the  com¬ 
missioners,  in  the  course  of  which  Lord  Elgin  alluded  to  the  state 
of  affairs  in  the  south,  and  the  conduct  of  the  imperial  commis¬ 
sioner  Hwang.  Had  he  insisted  upon  it,  there  is  no  doubt  he 
might  have  procured  this  worthy’s  disgrace,  instead  of  leaving 
this  to  be  done  on  a  future  day.  Lord  Elgin  was,  however,  un¬ 
willing  to  use  language  which  might  seem  to  imply  that  we  were 
unable  to  cope  with  the  Canton  Braves,  and  he  therefore  content¬ 
ed  himself  with  warning  the  commissioners  that  the  conduct 
Hwang  was  pursuing  in  the  south  would  lead  to  a  recurrence  of 
those  scenes  which  they  must  deplore  equally  with  himself. 
Kweiliang  replied  in  the  same  spirit,  and  expressed  his  earnest 
hope  that  the  troubles  at  Canton  were  now  at  an  end,  and  that  the 
treaty  just  concluded  would  inaugurate  a  more  peaceful  era  in  the 
relations  of  the  Celestial  Empire  with  foreigners.  He  promised 
to  use  his  influence  to  put  a  stop  to  the  proceedings  of  the  Gov¬ 
ernor  General  Hwang. 

Since  our  last  interview  with  this  venerable  old  man,  news 


294 


HWASHANA’S  POEMS. 


have  been  received  of  the  death  of  Yu,  the  first  minister  of  the 
Council  of  State.  This  gave  Kweiliang  the  highest  rank  in  the 
empire. 

The  embassador  adverted  to  the  expediency  of  a  Chinese  of¬ 
ficer  of  rank  being  sent  to  England  as  embassador,  and  asked  the 
portly  Hwashana  whether  he  would  like  to  go  in  that  capacity ; 
to  which  that  sedate  and  imperturbable  old  aristocrat  replied, 
“  That  if  the  emperor  ordered  him  to  go,  he  would  go ;  but  if  the 
emperor  did  not  order  him  to  go,  he  would  not  go.”  Lord  Elgin 
then  complimented  him  on  his  eminence  as  a  scholar  and  a  poet, 
and  referred  to  the  distinction  which  was  conferred  upon  him  by 
his  having  taken  the  degree  of  Han,  an  allusion  which  caused  him 
somewhat  to  relax  as  he  acknowledged  the  compliment  with  an 
air  of  grim  gratification.  The  allusion  to  his  poetical  composi¬ 
tions  was  met  by  an  offer  on  his  part  to  present  Lord  Elgin  with 
a  copy  of  some  of  them,  and  a  goodly  supply  of  volumes  accord¬ 
ingly  followed  us  on  our  return  to  the  yamun,  containing  the 
metrical  effusions  of  this  accomplished  “  imperial  expositor  of  the 
classics.”  As  I  am  not  aware  that  the  poem  of  a  Chinese  cabinet 
minister  has  ever  yet  appeared  in  print,  I  take  this  opportunity 
of  giving  publicity  to  the  following  stanzas,  as  a  specimen  of  those 
which  have,  during  the  intervals  of  his  political  labors,  flowed 
from  the  pen  of  his  excellency  Hwashana.  It  is  just  possible  that 
their  merit  is  due  rather  to  Mr.  Wade’s  elegant  translation  than 
to  the  poetic  talent  of  the  composer. 

Hwashana' s  Complaint  when ,  on  his  second  mission  to  Mouhhden ,  the  Capital  of  Man- 
chouria ,  he  finds  himself  once  more  at  the  Inn  at  Chalau. 

I. 

“  On  toward  the  sister  capital  once  more, 

By  duty  called,  I  track  my  distant  way ; 

The  watch-dog  notes  my  wheel,  as  droops  the  night 
O’er  the  thatched  cot,  and  slowly  tramp  my  steeds 
Up  the  wild  pass,  in  autumn’s  mourning  sad, 

Joyless  the  moon.  And  now  in  chamber  lone, 

Beneath  his  single  lamp,  the  traveler  dreams 
Of  house  and  home,  an  hundred  leagues  behind. 

Where  are  his  rhymes  these  panels  bore  of  old  ? 

Vain  search !  o’er  Lu-ho  let  him  listless  pore. 


n. 

Where  herds  and  swine  once  lay,  a  hostel  now. 
Chalau  is  won  at  last.  My  car  is  staid, 

As  sunset,  slanting,  strikes  its  roof,  and  chill 


“OLD  CHANG’S”  POETICAL  EFEUSIONS. 


295 


The  widespread  bars  admit  the  evening’s  breath. 
Forlorn  the  scene — a  very  “Walk  in  Dew.”* 

Envoy  of  majesty  !  so  known  to  whom  ? 

Peace  where  the  state  hath  need — no  word  of  care ; 
Turn  to  thy  muse — let  verse  these  walls  adorn.” 


I  leave  to  competent  critics  the  task  of  discussing1  the  merits  of 
this  production;  but  in  justice  to  a  humbler  poet,  who  became 
well  known  to  us  during  our  trip  to  the  north,  and  whose  gentle 
and  amiable  character  impressed  us  all  in  his  favor,  I  venture  to 
insert  a  composition  which  I  think  bears  off  the  palm  from  his  ex¬ 
alted  competitor.  Old  Chang  was  one  of  those  not  very  old  men 
who  have  probably  been  known  as  “  old  Chang”  all  their  lives. 
He  was  a  not  unfavorable  specimen  of  the  literary  class  of  China 
— a  good  scholar,  an  efficient  spy  in  behalf  of  his  own  government, 
a  gentleman  in  his  manners,  a  great  humbug,  and  a  confirmed 
opium-smoker.  He  did  not  speak  a  word  of  English,  though  he 
had  lived  with  Mr.  Wade  as  teacher  for  many  years,  and  in  that 
capacity  accompanied  us  to  Tientsin.  The  poem,  also  translated 
and  versified  by  Mr.  Wade,  which  was  written  on  a  fan  in  memory 
of  the  occasion,  was  thus  headed  : 

“Two  stanzas  of  verses,  in  five  words  each,  presented  by  Chang-Tung-Yau  to  Wade 
his  pupil,  and  literary  acquaintance  of  nine  years’  standing,  with  whom  he  had 
been  a  shipmate  to  Taku,  and  at  Tientsin,  on  finding  himself  several  months  on 
board  the  same  vessel  with  him.  Composed  on  the  5th  moon  of  the  year  Wu 
Wu  (June,  1854). 

i. 

“  So  best,  in  lettered  toil  thine  aim 
To  aid  the  world — by  one  fair  deed 
To  earn  a  thousand  autumns’  fame. 

The  day’s  capricious  will  why  heed  ? 

Fitful  as  down  upon  the  air 
A  bubble  that  the  waters  bear, 

Is  all  our  glory’s  fleeting  pride. 

Thy  pastime  in  the  leisure  hour 
The  nicely-studied  rhyme  to  pair  ; 

Nor  titles  win  thy  praise,  nor  power — 

And  well,  for  all  is  change.  Though  fair 
The  moon,  yet  dark  the  evening’s  doom : 


*  The  “Walk  in  Dew”  is  a  poem,  allusion  to  which  is  made  to  convey  to  the 
reader  the  idea  of  shuddering  or  shivering  horror  with  which  the  present  poet  gazes 
on  the  scene  before  him.  The  lines  on  the  title-page  of  this  volume  are  a  rhythmical 
version  of  the  last  half  stanza. 


£96 


DEPARTURE  FROM  TIENTSIN. 


Changeful  our  lot,  as  light  and  gloom 
Play  o’er  the  blue  stream’s  tide. 


ii. 

Nine  years  since  first  we  met  are  sped, 
Thenceforth  in  friendly  union  bound ; 

Now  six  long  moons  one  deck  we  tread. 

*  Our  night-lamp  trimm’d,  we  chat  the  round 
Of  earth’s  affairs ;  the  burning  day 
On  weighty  labors  pours  its  ray ; 

We  part  inditing  matters  grave. 

For  me,  my  part  fled  vainly  by, 

And  with  what  haste  !  No  longer  proud, 
But  free  I  stray,  as  floats  on  high, 

Now  clustering,  now  dispersed,  the  cloud. 
Home  to  my  books — I  ask  no  more — 

With  age  my  limbs  and  travel  sore ; 

Give  me  my  hillside  cave.” 


Hwashana’s  volume  was  not  tlie  only  present  Lord  Elgin  re¬ 
ceived  from  the  commissioners;  nine  enormous  earthen  jars  of 
wine,  of  dimensions  sufficient  for  Morgiana  to  smother  thieves  in, 
made  their  appearance  just  as  we  were  leaving  the  yamun. 

The  same  afternoon  we  bade  a  final  adieu  to  the  “  Temple  of 
Supreme  Felicity,”  and  embarked  on  board  the  Firm  gun-boat. 
A  flowing  tide  swept  us  down  to  the  Gulf  in  eight  hours,  and  that 
night  we  had  the  satisfaction  of  once  more  finding  ourselves  on 
board  the  good  ship  Furious.  As  she  had  now  remained  without 
moving  from  her  dismal  anchorage  for  three  months,  our  appear¬ 
ance  was  hailed  with  some  pleasure,  as  the  signal  for  a  change  to 
new  and  more  lively  scenes. 

As  we  found  that  we  should  just  have  time,  on  our  way  back 
to  Shanghai,  to  visit  the  Great  Wall,  we  steered  a  northeasterly 
course  after  we  had  weighed  anchor  the  following  day.  Before 
dark  we  saw  the  Sha-liu-tien,  or  “Sand-hill  Fields,”  extensive 
sand-banks  rising  but  a  few  feet  above  the  water,  remarkable  only 
for  being  a  favorite  and  profitable  fishing-ground,  and  for  a  square 
joss-house  painted  white  to  serve  as  a  beacon,  and  which,  situated 
at  one  corner,  is  the  only  building  visible. 

The  following  morning  found  us  off  the  high  land  of  the  de¬ 
partment  of  Shuntien,  in  the  province  of  Chih-li.  Unfortunately, 
the  weather  was  thick  and  lowering;  the  mountains  were  capped 
with  clouds ;  and  we  could  only  judge  of  their  height  when  we 
caught  an  occasional  glimpse  of  a  peak  rising  from  two  to  three 


THE  GEEAT  WALL. 


297 


thousand  feet  above  the  sea-level.  In  fine  weather  there  is  no 
difficulty  in  finding  the  Great  Wall,  which  is  seen  for  miles  scor¬ 
ing  with  an  irregular  line  the  sides  of  the  steepest  hills,  and  cross¬ 
ing  their  highest  ridges.  To-day,  however,  we  looked  in  vain  for 
any  such  indication  of  its  existence ;  dense  masses  of  cloud  rolled 
along  the  base  of  the  range ;  while  misty  drizzling  rain  rendered 
our  search  neither  hopeful  nor  agreeable.  About  9  A.M.  we  pass¬ 
ed  a  large  walled  city,  near  which  a  mass  of  solid  masonry  abut¬ 
ted  on  the  sea,  with  a  tower  or  two  in  rear.  This  answered  in 
some  degree  to  Lord  Jocelyn’s  description  of  the  locality,  but,  ac¬ 
cording  to  the  chart,  the  position  was  placed  some  miles  farther 
on.  We  therefore  followed  the  coast  for  two  more  hours,  until 
we  shoaled  the  water  to  five  fathoms,  without  observing  any  sign 
of  the  Wall. 

It  was  now  evident  that  we  had  passed  the  object  of  our  search, 
and  that  the  walled  town  we  had  observed  was  Shan-hai,  described 
as  being  situated  at  the  point  where  the  Great  Wall  abuts  on  the 
sea.  The  north  shore  of  the  Gulf  of  Leatung,  along  which  we 
had  since  been  steaming,  was  the  most  beautiful  piece  of  coast 
scenery  we  had  seen  in  China.  Rich  plains,  covered  with  the 
brightest  verdure,  rose  in  swelling  undulations  from  the  sea  to 
the  magnificent  range  of  peaked  mountains  in  rear.  Tillages 
were  scattered  plentifully  over  them.  Snug  farm-houses  nestled 
in  clumps  of  wood,  and  innumerable  cattle  dotted  the  landscape, 
as  though  they  had  been  sown  upon  it  broadcast.  Every  thing 
indicated  a  prosperous  rural  population,  occupying  a  champaign 
of  much  fertility^  and  picturesque  beauty. 

We  were  sorry  to  turn  our  backs  upon  it  without  either  prose¬ 
cuting  our  voyage  to  the  new  port  of  Neu-chwang,  from  which  we 
were  scarce  fifty  miles  distant,  or  returning  to  inspect  more  close¬ 
ly  the  far-famed  Wall;  but  the  heavy  fogs  would  have  decided 
the  question  against  farther  exploration,  even  had  not  our  anxiety 
to  reach  Shanghai  in  time  for  the  departure  of  the  mail  influenced 
Lord  Elgin  in  avoiding  any  farther  delay.  A  rapid  and  prosper¬ 
ous  passage  of  four  days  to  Shanghai  from  this  point  enabled  us 
to  secure  this  latter  object. 

Prior  to  leaving  Tientsin  Lord  Elgin  had  acquainted  the  ad¬ 
miral  with  his  intention  of  proceeding  at  an  early  date  to  Japan, 
at  the  same  time  adverting  to  the  state  of  affairs  at  Canton,  and 
informing  his  excellency  that  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty  would 


298 


APPOINTMENT  OF  FIVE  COMMISSIONERS. 


release  the  naval  forces  from  any  farther  service  in  the  north  of 
the  empire.  As  the  complexion  of  the  news  received  from  Can¬ 
ton  on  our  arrival  at  Shanghai,  however,  was  not  in  any  degree 
improved,  Lord  Elgin  determined  to  postpone  his  departure  for 
Japan,  in  order  to  consult  with  the  admiral  upon  the  course  to  be 
pursued  in  that  quarter. 

The  following  fortnight  we  passed  at  Shanghai  in  a  state  of 
some  anxiety,  as  the  admiral  did  not  appear,  and  the  condition  of 
Canton  seemed  to  be  getting  worse  by  each  successive  mail :  not 
until  the  26th  were  we  cheered  by  the  arrival  of  the  Coromandel 
in  the  river,  the  admiral  having  made  a  slow  passage  from  the 
north  in  his  flag-ship,  which  was  then  lying  at  the  Bugged  Islands, 
lie  had  been  more  fortunate  than  ourselves  in  his  trip  to  the  Great 
Wall,  which  was  visited  both  by  his  excellency  and  Baron  Gros. 

On  the  day  previous  to  the  arrival  of  the  Admiral  Lord  Elgin 
received  the  intelligence  from  Pekin  that  five  commissioners  had 
been  appointed  to  proceed  to  Shanghai  for  the  settlement  of  the 
tariff,  and  the  framing  of  those  general  trade-regulations  which 
must  necessarily  be  drawn  up  as  a  supplemental  part  of  the  treaty. 
Of  these  commissioners,  two  were  our  old  friends  Kweiliang  and 
Hwashana,  to  whom  was  added  the  governor  general  of  the  Two 
Kiangs,  IIo-Kwei-tsick,  one  of  the  most  highly  esteemed  men  in 
the  empire  for  learning  and  administrative  ability.  Two  other 
mandarins  of  less  note  completed  the  commission. 

As  no  commissioners  of  the  eminence  of  these  mandarins  had 
been  demanded  for  the  revision  of  the  tariff,  etc.,  their  appoint¬ 
ment  to  this  function  was  a  spontaneous  act,  on  the  part  of  the 
government,  of  some  significance ;  and  their  position  and  charac¬ 
ter  were  such  that,  whatever  idea  Lord  Elgin  might  at  one  time 
have  entertained  of  proceeding  to  Canton  instead  of  Japan  was 
now  abandoned,  as  he  considered  it  above  all  things  essential  that 
he  should  not  lose  the  opportunity  which  the  visit  of  the  commis¬ 
sioners  would  afford  him  of  exerting  that  influence  which  personal 
intercourse  would,  he  doubted  not,  enable  him  to  acquire  over 
them. 

Though  the  Treaty  of  Tientsin  effected  the  great  object  of  rev¬ 
olutionizing  the  system  under  which  our  political  and  commercial 
relations  with  the  empire  were  to  be  for  the  future  conducted, 
there  were  many  most  important  details  to  be  considered  in  the 
altered  conditions  under  which  these  latter  were  to  be  worked 


LORD  ELGIN’S  DISPATCH  TO  THE  GENERAL. 


299 


out,  and  the  embassador  perceived  with  no  little  satisfaction  that 
these  might  now  be  arranged  by  himself  in  accordance  with  the 
spirit  of  the  treaty,  and  with  that  deliberation  and  solemnity  which 
they  deserved ;  nor,  indeed,  however  deeply  interested  he  might 
feel  in  the  state  of  affairs  then  existing  at  Canton,  did  he  consider 
that  their  settlement  fell  within  the  province  of  a  civilian.  The 
city  was  under  a  purely  military  government.  It  is  true,  the 
Governor  Pih-kwei  was  exercising  certain  functions  as  a  Chinese 
authority,  but  he  did  so  only  with  the  sufferance  of  General  Strau- 
benzee,  and  as  an  assistance  to  that  officer  in  preserving  peace  and 
order :  should  the  general  have  found  his  presence  an  obstruction 
rather  than  an  aid  to  his  administration,  it  was  in  his  power  at  any 
time  to  suspend  him  from  his  functions,  and  turn  him  out  of  the 
city  or  keep  him  in  confinement,  as,  indeed,  for  some  part  of  the 
time  he  did. 

Lord  Elgin  was  strongly  impressed  with  the  notion  that  the 
most  thorough  and  satisfactory  way  of  restoring  quiet  to  Canton 
was  to  inflict  a  summary  chastisement  upon  those  who  disturbed 
the  peace  there  ;  and  accordingly,  in  a  letter  to  General  Strauben- 
zee,  informing  his  excellency  of  the  expected  arrival  of  the  com¬ 
missioners  above  named,  and  of  his  intention  to  meet  them  at 
Shanghai,  the  embassador  goes  on  to  say :  “  It  is  not  impossible 
that  I  may  be  able  to  induce  these  high  officers  to  take  some  active 
steps  to  check  the  proceedings  of  the  Braves  at  Canton  ;  but,  look¬ 
ing  at  the  present  state  of  affairs  in  that  quarter  as  portrayed  in 
your  excellency’s  dispatch  of  the  22d  instant,  and  in  the  reports  I 
have  received  from  Mr.  Parkes,  I  can  not  help  thinking  that  it 
would  be  very  desirable  that  any  such  intimation  by  the  Chinese 
authorities  should  be  preceded  by  some  vigorous  decisive  action  on 
our  part,  showing  our  power  to  control  and  punish  the  Braves. 

“  It  is  for  your  excellency  to  determine  how  such  a  blow  can  be 
most  effectually  struck ;  but  I  trust  you  will  excuse  me  for  mak¬ 
ing  a  suggestion  which  is  prompted  by  the  expected  arrival  of  the 
imperial  commissioners,  and  the  anomalous  state  of  affairs  at  Can¬ 
ton.” 

Lord  Elgin  also  wrote  a  letter  to  the  admiral  immediately  on 
his  arrival  at  Shanghai,  calling  his  excellency’s  attention  “  to  the 
continued  existence  in  that  quarter  of  a  state  of  affairs  to  which  it 
is  most  important  an  arrest  should  be  put  at  the  earliest  period,” 
and  proceeding  in  terms  almost  identical  with  those  I  have  quoted 


300 


DEPARTURE  EOR  JAPAN. 


as  already  addressed  to  General  Straubenzee.  In  reply  to  this 
communication,  the  admiral  stated  that  it  was  his  intention,  prior 
to  going  south,  to  proceed  to  Nagasaki  for  the  purpose  of  deliver¬ 
ing  over  the  yacht  Emperor  to  the  government  of  Japan,  and  wa¬ 
tering  the  Calcutta. 

During  this  period  of  our  stay  at  Shanghai  the  climate  was  more 
oppressively  hot  than  I  ever  remember  to  have  felt  it  in  any  part 
of  the  world.  The  thermometer  did  not  show  a  higher  tempera¬ 
ture  than  at  Tientsin,  but  there  was  a  stifling  heaviness  in  the  at¬ 
mosphere  which  acted  in  a  most  depressing  manner  both  on  health 
and  spirits.  Cases  of  death  by  sun-stroke  were  of  daily  occur¬ 
rence,  chiefly  among  the  sailors  in  the  shipping  which  crowded 
the  river.  Upward  of  a  hundred  merchantmen,  waiting  hopeless¬ 
ly  for  cargoes,  were  lying  at  anchor  under  the  broiling  sun,  their 
lists  of  sick  daily  increasing  under  the  deleterious  influence  of  the 
climate. 

As  two  or  three  weeks  must  elapse  before  the  arrival  of  the 
commissioners,  Lord  Elgin  determined  to  escape  for  the  interval 
to  Japan,  and  return  in  time  to  meet  their  excellencies  at  Shang¬ 
hai.  In  the  mean  time  certain  changes  had  taken  place  in  the 
“  personnel”  of  the  mission.  Mr.  Bruce  had  proceeded  to  England 
with  the  treaty  of  Tientsin  immediately  on  our  return  to  Shang¬ 
hai  ;  Mr.  Jocelyn  had  arrived  to  relieve  Mr.  Cameron,  who  went 
home  on  his  promotion  ;  and  Mr.  Morrison  returned  to  England. 
With  our  party  thus  reduced,  we  embarked  on  board  the  Furious 
on  the  last  day  of  July,  1858,  delighted  under  any  circumstances 
to  escape  from  the  summer  heats  of  Shanghai,  were  it  only  for  a 
few  weeks,  but  our  gratification  increased  by  the  anticipation  of 
visiting  scenes  which  have  ever  been  veiled  in  the  mystery  of  a 
jealous  and  rigid  seclusion. 


\ 


FIRST  VIEW  OF  JAPAN. 


301 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

First  View  of  Japan. — Lovely  Scenery. — Singular  Boats. — Pappenberg. — Dungaree 
Forts. — Enchanting  Scenery. — A  philosophical  Port-guardian. — Visit  of  Japanese 
Officials. — Decima. — Removal  of  Restrictions. — Former  Imprisonment  of  Dutch. 
— A  smuggling  Skipper. — Dutch  Covetousness. — Strict  Rules. — Recent  Conces¬ 
sions. — Nagasaki. — Aspect  of  Houses. — Shops  at  Nagasaki. — The  Streets. — Plan 
of  the  City. — Janitors  of  Decima. 

The  distance  from  Shanghai  to  Nagasaki  is  not  above  450 
miles ;  but,  if  oceans  rolled  between  the  two  empires,  Japan  conld 
not  be  more  thoroughly  isolated  than  it  is  from  the  rest  of  the 
world.  We  steamed  smoothly  and  rapidly  over  this  narrow  strip 
of  sea,  so  rarely  traversed  by  craft  of  any  sort.  There  was  not  a 
speck  of  foam  to  ruffle  its  glassy  surface,  scarce  a  fleece  of  cloud 
to  checker  the  deep  blue  overhead :  well  might  we  imagine  our¬ 
selves  gliding  across  these  solitary  waters  to  some  dreamland,  se¬ 
curely  set  in  a  quiet  corner  of  another  world,  far  away  from  the 
storms  and  troubles  of  this  one.  On  the  afternoon  of  the  2d  of 
August  we  first  saw  symptoms  of  land,  and  passed  close  to  some 
high  pointed  rocks  of  picturesque  form,  in  places  covered  with 
verdure,  but  not  affording  standing-ground  for  an  inhabitant. 
These  bold  landmarks  are  out  of  sight  of  the  Japanese  coast,  and 
are  called  the  Asses’  Ears.  Early  on  the  following  morning  the 
highlands  of  Japan  were  in  sight,  the  nearest  land  being  the  island 
of  Iwosima.  As  we  approached  it,  the  first  object  visible  was  an 
evidence  of  civilization  unknown  among  the  Chinese ;  on  its  high¬ 
est  summit  a  flag-staff  at  once  telegraphed  our  appearance  to  the 
main  land.  We  did  not  then  know  that  cannon,  placed  at  inter¬ 
vals  the  whole  way  to  the  capital,  were  noisily  repeating  this  sig¬ 
nal,  so  that  intelligence  of  our  approach  was  even  then  reverber¬ 
ating  almost  from  one  end  of  the  empire  to  the  other ;  and  his 
majesty  the  Tycoon  at  Yedo,  six  or  seven  hundred  miles  away, 
was  informed  that  we  had  entered  the  Bay  of  Nagasaki  by  the 
time  that  we  had  dropped  our  anchor  in  it. 

The  high  green  islands  of  Iwosima  conceal  from  view  the  en¬ 
trance  to  the  bay  until  you  round  their  westernmost  point :  even 
then  other  islands  and  projecting  promontories  make  it  somewhat 


302 


LOVELY  SCENERY. 


uncertain.  Fortunately,  the  ship’s  pilotage  does  not  rest  with  us, 
and  we  can  bestow  our  attention  unreservedly  on  the  scenery, 
which  is  indeed  of  a  character  to  rivet  it,  whether  we  will  or  no. 
The  islands  on  our  right  rise  abruptly  out  of  the  water.  The 
overhanging  promontory  above  us  is  crowned  by  a  battery  of 
guns,  round  which  a  few  soldiers  are  grouped,  gazing  curiously ; 
beyond  it  more  batteries  appear  on  sundry  other  projections  of 
the  shore,  which  is  here  and  there  indented  with  bays,  from  which 
deep-wooded  valleys  run  up  into  the  island.  They  seem  thickly 
populated,  for  the  cottages,  with  their  high  thatched  roofs,  cluster 
up  the  hill  side,  and  peep  out  from  under  the  dark  foliage.  In 
places  the  islands  are  precipitous,  and  masses  of  towering  rock 
deny  even  to  the  hardiest  shrubs  holding-ground. 

The  scenery  on  the  opposite  shore  is  of  the  same  character,  but 
on  a  grander  scale.  It  trends  away  in  a  series  of  deep  bays  and 
beetling  cliffs,  upon  the  rugged  base  of  which  the  waves  wage  an 
incessant  war,  and  surge  and  moan  fretfully  in  deep  caves  and 
fissures,  as  though  lamenting  their  fruitless  efforts  to  undermine 
them.  In  charming  contrast  with  these  sterner  features  are  grassy 
slopes  and  rice-fields  rising  in  terraces  on  the  green  hill  sides,  and 
shady  groves  with  blue  smoke  curling  above  them,  denoting  the 
existence  of  snug  hamlets.  Securely  moored  in  secluded  creeks, 
or  hauled  up  on  little  patches  of  sandy  beach,  are  quaint-shaped 
native  craft ;  others  are  glancing  about  these  calm  inland  waters, 
ferrying  across  from  islands  to  the  main  passengers  and  cargo,  or 
lying  motionless  as  though  asleep  on  the  water,  their  sails  u  fold¬ 
ed  like  thoughts  in  a  dream,”  while  the  occupants  are  fishing. 
These  sails  are  composed  either  of  strips  of  matting  or  of  cloth. 
These  are  generally  black  and  white  alternately,  each  strip  not 
being  above  two  feet  wide,  and  hoisted  perpendicularly.  When 
it  is  necessary  to  reduce  sail,  one  or  more  strips  are  taken  in. 
When  not  sailing,  they  are  sculled  by  ten  or  a  dozen  stalwart 
figures,  their  entire  clothing  consisting  but  of  scanty  waistcloths, 
and  their  light-bronze  complexions  giving  them  an  unusually 
naked  appearance.  These  men  all  work  under  substantial  awn¬ 
ings  of  matting,  or  a  light  wooden  frame-work,  constructed  in  the 
afterpart  of  the  boat.  The  bows  are  considered  the  more  honor¬ 
able  position,  and  hence  this  is  the  portion  of  the  boat  set  apart 
for  passenger  accommodation.  The  prows  are  sharp-pointed,  and 
elevated  high  out  of  the  water.  Some  of  these  passenger-boats 


PAPPENBERG. 


303 


passed  close  to  us  for  the  purpose  of  a  closer  inspection.  Those 
within  manifested  no  fear,  but  a  good  deal  of  interest  and  curiosi¬ 
ty ;  numerous  flags  fluttered  from  small  flag-staffs  in  the  stern,  each 
device  having  its  appropriate  signification,  unknown  to  us.  The 
colors  were  generally  black  and  white,  and  the  form  square  or  an¬ 
gular.  A  black  circle  on  a  white  ground,  or  black  and  white  tri¬ 
angles  were  the  commonest;  but  often  they  were  complicated,  and 
presented  to  the  uninitiated  the  appearance  of  an  elaborate  collec¬ 
tion  of  the  emblems  of  free-masonry. 

Steaming  gently  on,  we  presently  open  the  mouth  of  the  long 
narrow  harbor,  with  the  conical  wooded  island  of  Pappenberg 
guarding  its  entrance ;  beyond  which,  formerly,  foreign  ships  were 
not  allowed  to  penetrate,  and  which  must  ever  hold  an  unenvia¬ 
ble  notoriety  in  the  historical  annals  of  Japan  as  the  Tarpeian 


The  Island  of  Pappenberg. 

rock,  down  the  precipitous  sides  of  which  hundreds  of  Christians, 
during  the  fierce  persecution  which  had  for  its  object  the  utter 
extermination  of  all  who  professed  the  Creed,  were  hurled  into 
the  deep-blue  waters  which  eddy  round  it.  The  moral  of  the  sad 
story  is  written  on  the  face  of  the  steep  hills  which  inclose  the 
bay ;  tiers  of  cannon  rise  one  above  another ;  battery  succeeds 
battery,  as  point  after  point  is  revealed  to  view.  These  guns  are 


304 


DUNGAREE  FORTS. 


pointed  not  so  much  against  the  stranger  as  the  Christian,  who, 
while  he  is  dreaded,  is  no  less  despised,  and  the  principal  result 
of  whose  intercourse  with  the  Japanese  has  been  to  furnish  them 
with  weapons  by  which  they  can  the  more  effectually  resist  his  en¬ 
croachments.  Notwithstanding  this,  Japan  is  once  again  open  to 
the  Christian ;  it  will  remain  to  be  proved  how  far  the  estimate 
which  former  experience  led  the  authorities  of  that  empire  to  form 
of  his  practice  and  his  profession  will  be  justified  in  the  course  of 
his  renewed  intercourse  with  its  inhabitants. 

The  guns,  which  appeared  of  enormous  calibre,  were  for  the 
most  part  unprotected  by  embrasures;  they  stood  under  open 
sheds,  generally  surrounded  by  soldiers.  In  addition  to  those 
which  were  real,  and  apparently  serviceable,  were  long  lines  of 
sham  batteries,  known  to  sailors  as  Dungaree  forts,  and  which 
were  made  simply  of  coarse  cloth  or  canvas,  stretched  and  paint¬ 
ed  so  as  to  represent  batteries.  It  is  possible  that  in  many  cases 
these  concealed  guns,  and  were  purposely  constructed  in  a  man¬ 
ner  calculated  to  mislead  the  beholder  into  supposing  them  a 
“  solemn  sham,”  and  so  hurrying  him  on  to  his  own  destruction. 
Whether  that  be  so  or  not,  these  gaudily  painted  fortifications 
contributed  a  novel  and  characteristic  feature  to  the  scenery, 
which  continued  to  be  of  the  most  enchanting  description. 

The  harbor  of  Nagasaki  is  an  inlet  of  the  sea,  four  miles  long, 
and  with  an  average  of  about  a  mile  in  breadth.  At  its  farther 
extremity  lies  the  city,  with  a  high  range  of  hills  in  rear ;  the  top¬ 
most  summit,  Kawarajama,  attaining  an  elevation  of  about  two 
thousand  feet.  The.  hills  on  either  side  of  this  sheet  of  water 
sometimes  rise  out  of  it  in  an  abrupt  wall  of  rock,  at  others  swell 
gently  back  in  wooded  slopes,  down  which  brawling  streams  leap 
into  the  sea ;  rock-cut  steps  ascend  to  airy  pinnacles  surmounted 
by  guns  or  temples ;  dense  foliage  clusters  wherever  it  can  find 
holding-ground,  flinging  deep  shadows  over  crag  and  fissure,  sub¬ 
duing  and  toning  down  all  the  harsher  elements — just  as  a  soft 
eye  and  gentle  smile  give  their  own  expression  to  a  countenance 
rugged  with  lines  and  furrows. 

Behind  some  Dungaree  forts  we  observed  substantial  buildings, 
apparently  barracks,  and  gardens  beautifully  kept,  with  terraces 
and  walks,  and  carefully-trimmed  borders — the  bright  colors  of 
the  dresses  of  those  who  frequented  them  imparting  a  gay  and 
almost  fairy -like  aspect  to  the  scene. 


VISIT  OF  JAPANESE  OFFICIALS. 


305 


We  had  now  reached  the  point  at  which,  a  few  years  ago,  even 
Dutch  ships  were  compelled  to  anchor,  and  the  interval  which 
elapsed  until  permission  was  given  them  to  proceed  to  their  an¬ 
chorage  was  employed  in  secreting  the  Bibles.  “On  anchoring 
at  the  entrance  of  the  harbor,”  says  Thunberg,  “all  the  Bibles 
and  prayer-books  belonging  to  the  sailors  were  collected  and  put 
into  a  chest,  which  was  nailed  down.  This  chest  was  afterward 
left  under  the  care  of  the  Japanese  till  the  time  of  our  depart¬ 
ure,  when  every  one  received  his  book  again.”  They  were  also 
obliged  to  give  up  all  their  arms  and  ammunition.  In  spite,  how¬ 
ever,  of  the  abhorrence  in  which  the  Japanese  hold  Bibles  and 
revolvers,  we  retained  our  right  to  use  the  one  and  wear  the  oth¬ 
er  ;  and  it  is  but  fair  to  them  to  say  that  the  spiritual  weapon 
was  the  only  one  for  which  we  found  any  need  in  their  country. 

Until  quite  recently,  a  cordon  of  boats,  stretched  across  this 
part  of  the  harbor,  barred  the  farther  progress  of  foreign  ships. 
We  found  the  obstruction  represented  only  by  one  official  boat, 
upon  the  deck,  or  rather  roof  of  which  a  gentleman  was  seated, 
reading  placidly,  and  gently  fanning  himself.  On  our  approach¬ 
ing  nearer  he  looked  up  and  waved  us  benignly  back  with  his 
fan.  If  he  was  the  port-guardian,  he  was  by  no  means  a  formi¬ 
dable  janitor,  for  on  our  holding  on  our  way,  regardless  of  his  sig¬ 
nals,  he  fell  to  reading  again,  apparently  satisfied  that  he  had  dis¬ 
charged  his  duty,  and  was  henceforward  relieved  from  all  farther 
responsibility  on  our  account.  This  man’s  conduct  furnished  us 
with  a  key  in  all  our  future  intercourse  with  Japanese  officials, 
who,  in  spite  of  the  vehemence  of  their  protestations  so  long  as 
they  believe  it  possible  to  carry  out  their  instructions,  possess  a 
marvelous  faculty  of  accepting  whatever  situation  they  find  is  in¬ 
evitably  to  be  forced  upon  them.  In  this  instance  we  were  the 
less  disposed  to  heed  the  signals  of  the  dignitary  in  the  boat,  as 
we  could  now  perceive  two  or  three  ships  at  anchor  off  the  town. 
These  we  discovered  to  be  a  Dutch  merchant-ship  and  a  Japanese 
man-of-war  steamer,  besides  a  small  cutter ;  behind  them  were  a 
few  Japanese  junks. 

We  were  now  soon  at  anchor,  and  ready  to  land  under  the 
Dutch  flag,  which  betokened  the  factory  of  Decima,  which,  though 
an  island,  seems  from  the  shipping  as  though  it  formed  part  of 
the  city  of  Nagasaki.  Before  we  had  time  to  do  so,  however,  we 
were  boarded  by  a  boat-load  of  Japanese  officials,  the  novelty  of 

U 


306 


DECIMA.— REMOVAL  OF  RESTRICTIONS. 


whose  appearance  and  costume  detained  us.  They  came  crowd¬ 
ing  on  the  deck  in  the  most  easy,  unembarrassed  manner  imagin¬ 
able,  smiling  blandly,  and  affably,  and  talking  Dutch,  which,  how¬ 
ever,  nobody  on  board  understood.  Their  gauzy  overcoats,  loose 
trowsers,  gaiters,  and  “foot-gloves”  combined  to  form  an  unusual 
costume ;  while  the  position  of  the  two  swords  with  which  each 
man  was  furnished,  as  they  projected  behind,  gave  him  the  ap¬ 
pearance,  at  a  distance,  of  some  new  species  of  biped  adorned 
with  two  tails.  When  our  curiosity  had  been  mutually  satisfied, 
these  gentry  were  signed  to  return  to  their  boat;  and  as  they 
were  unable  to  extract  any  information  from  us,  they  at  once  com¬ 
plied,  but  only  re-embarked  to  remain  stationary,  a  short  distance 
off,  as  a  sort  of  guard-boat. 

Some  of  us  now  went  on  shore  to  call  on  the  Dutch  officials  in 
the  factory.  As  we  neared  the  land  we  observed  some  of  the  old 
posts  standing  out  of  the  water,  within  a  short  distance  of  the  fac¬ 
tory,  within  which  no  Japanese  boats  were  formerly  allowed  to 
pass,  for  fear  of  surreptitious  communication  being  carried  on 
with  the  Dutch.  We  landed  at  a  rude  quay,  where  some  Dutch 
sailors  were  lounging  under  an  open  shed ;  and,  passing  through 
a  wooden  gate,  found  ourselves  in  a  single  street,  about  two  hund¬ 
red  yards  long,  as  clean  and  precise  as  a  street  in  that  paragon 
of  neatness,  the  village  of  Brock.  The  houses  were  substantial 
little  two-storied  edifices,  with  green  shutters  and  blinds,  from  be¬ 
hind  which  peeped  sundry  pretty -looking  female  Japanese  faces ; 
for  the  Dutch  here  are  not  allowed  the  companionship  of  their 
own  countrywomen.  Of  the  male  inhabitants  not  half  a  dozen 
were  visible,  and  these  seemed  all  sailors.  Asking  one  of  them 
to  point  out  the  house  of  the  chief  superintendent,  Mr.  Donker 
Curtius,  we  were  informed  that  he  was  absent  on  a  visit  to  the 
capital,  but  that  his  secretary  was  in  Decima. 

We  were  most  cordially  and  civilly  received  by  this  gentle¬ 
man,  and  were  delighted  to  learn  from  him  that,  by  the  latest  ar¬ 
rangements  entered  into  with  the  Japanese  government,  all  for¬ 
mer  restrictions  limiting  the  exploration  of  foreigners  to  the  little 
island,  or  subjecting  them  to  the  most  annoying  formalities  in 
case  of  their  wishing  to  proceed  beyond  it,  were  removed,  and 
that  we  were  now  at  liberty  to  ramble  unrestrained  wheresoever 
we  pleased.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  government  de¬ 
sires,  by  pursuing  a  very  liberal  policy  at  Nagasaki,  and  by  offer- 


FORMER  IMPRISONMENT  OF  DUTCH. 


307 


ing  greater  facilities  and  conveniences  to  foreigners  there  than 
elsewhere,  to  attract  them  as  much  as  possible  to  this  port,  to  the 
prejudice  and  exclusion  of  others.  Our  host  informed  us,  how¬ 
ever,  that  the  present  governor  was  a  man  of  by  no  means  ad¬ 
vanced  or  liberal  views,  and  mentioned  several  instances  in  which 
he  had  manifested  retrogressive  tendencies.  Under  the  regular 
system,  the  governors  of  the  imperial  cities  are  removed  annually, 
but  an  exception  is  made  in  the  case  of  Nagasaki,  as  a  man  is 
supposed  to  require  time  to  learn  the  temper  of  foreigners,  and  a 
farther  period  is  allowed  him  to  turn  the  knowledge  thus  gained 
to  account.  On  the  whole,  this  is  a  convenient  arrangement  for 
foreigners,  though,  in  the  present  instance,  any  change  would  in 
all  probability  have  been  for  the  better. 

It  appeared  that  Mr.  Honker  Curtius  was  now  on  his  return 
journey  from  Yedo,  where  he  had  been  residing  for  some  time, 
unsuccessfully  endeavoring  to  negotiate  a  new  treaty.  Mr.  Har¬ 
ris,  the  American  consul  at  Sirnoda,  had,  we  learned,  also  return¬ 
ed  to  his  post,  after  a  residence  in  the  capital  attended  with  no 
immediate  political  results. 

The  houses  of  the  Hutch  officials  in  Hecima  are  unpretending 
little  abodes,  generally  constructed  of  wood,  with  verandas  sea¬ 
ward  ;  the  lower  story  devoted  to  warehouse  purposes,  the  upper 
containing  three  or  four  small,  simply-furnished  rooms.  Up  to 
quite  a  recent  period  Hecima  must  have  presented  rather  the  as¬ 
pect  of  a  penal  settlement  than  the  abode  of  a  community  of  mer¬ 
chants.  So  strict  was  the  surveillance  to  which  the  members 
composing  the  factory  here  were  subjected — so  severe  the  restric¬ 
tions  by  which  they  were  bound — that  one  is  tempted  to  believe 
that  the  gentlemen  who  chose  the  Hutch  factory  at  Nagasaki  as 
their  habitation  must  have  been  the  victims  of  that  species  of  mis¬ 
anthropy  which  is  supposed,  in  our  own  country,  to  induce  men 
to  apply  for  situations  in  light-houses.  Until  lately,  the  arrival 
of  a  Hutch  ship  in  the  harbor  was  the  signal  for  a  host  of  J apan- 
ese  officials  to  flock  to  Hecima.  The  interpreters  occupied  the 
abode  assigned  to  them,  and  no  one  was  allowed  to  pass  from  the 
shore  to  the  ship  unless  furnished  with  a  passport  and  accom¬ 
panied  by  one  of  these  gentry.  Then  a  corps  of  “  ottonas,”  or 
official  spies,  were  quartered  in  the  island,  wffiose  duty  it  was  to 
watch  the  minutest  proceedings  of  every  member  of  the  factory. 
They  regularly  mounted  guard  at  the  only  gate  through  which 


308 


A  SMUGGLING  SKIPPER. 


access  is  to  be  had  on  foot  into  the  town,  as  well  as  both  the  wa¬ 
ter-gates,  and  both  by  day  and  night  went  their  rounds  with  re¬ 
ligious  punctuality  and  exactness. 

The  members  of  only  one  ecclesiastical  sect,  those  of  the  Mount¬ 
ain  of  Koja,  and  the  women  of  only  one  class,  and  that  the  most 
degraded,  were  permitted  to  enter  Decima.  At  night  the  gates 
were  shut,  and  no  intercourse  wTas  allowed  between  the  factory 
and  the  town  after  sunset.  This  was  the  case  when  we  were 
there ;  but  our  passage  to  and  from  the  ship  was  free  and  uninter¬ 
rupted  ;  nor  were  we  exposed  to  that  rigorous  personal  examina¬ 
tion  of  which  some  of  the  old  Dutch  writers  complain  so  bitterly. 
It  must  be  admitted  that  their  conduct  provoked  the  annoyance. 
The  captain  of  Thunberg’s  ship  was  in  the  habit  of  going  on  shore 
in  breeches  of  enormous  capacity  even  for  a  Dutchman,  so  heavily 
laden  with  secreted  articles  of  contraband  that  he  required  the 
support  of  two  sailors  to  enable  him  to  walk.  The  Japanese,  dis¬ 
posed,  in  the  first  instance,  to  believe  well  of  strangers,  are,  on  the 
other  hand,  when  their  suspicions  are  once  awakened,  vigilant  in 
the  extreme,  and  are  not  slow  in  enforcing  preventive  measures. 
Let  the  fate  of  the  Dutch  skipper  be  a  warning  to  the  British 
smuggler,  who  has  been  known  occasionally  to  extend  his  opera¬ 
tions  eastward  of  the  Cape :  that  dishonest  navigator  was  obliged 
to  reduce  his  trowsers  to  the  dimensions  of  those  worn  by  portly 
burgomasters,  and  was  farther  subject  to  the  indignity  of  having 
his  legs  felt,  and  his  pockets  turned  inside  out,  upon  the  rare  oc¬ 
casions  when,  in  compliance  with  the  urgent  representations  of 
the  Dutch  superintendent,  the  governor  allowed  him  to  land  and 
visit  the  factory.  Henceforward  no  man  was  considered  safe. 
One  gentleman  was  betrayed  by  an  indiscreet  parrot  talking  in 
his  pocket ;  another  had  sewn  up  dollars  in  his  drawers ;  so  that 
the  Japanese  researches  became  more  curious  than  ever,  even  to 
the  gauging  of  high-flavored  cheeses  and  the  breaking  of  suspect¬ 
ed  eggs.  Thus  has  commercial  dishonesty  and  political  subserv¬ 
iency  worked  to  the  prejudice  of  the  foreigner  in  the  mind  of  the 
Japanese,  whose  confidence  in  us  can  only  be  restored  by  the  ad¬ 
herence  of  the  merchant  to  a  high  code  of  mercantile  morality, 
and  by  the  maintenance,  on  the  part  of  those  who  represent  our 
country,  of  its  national  dignity. 

It  will  be  well,  in  considering  the  present  position  and  prospects 
of  the  Dutch  in  this  empire,  to  observe  how  little  they  have  gain- 


/ 


STRICT  RULES.  309 

ed  by  pursuing  a  course  which  has  not  merely  discredited  them  in 
the  eyes  of  the  Japanese,  but  placed  them  on  a  moral  footing  in¬ 
ferior  to  that  which  it  is  now  in  the  power  of  other  foreign  nations 
to  adopt.  Truly  does  old  Ksempfer  remark,  “So  great  was  the 
covetousness  of  the  Dutch,  and  so  strong  the  alluring  power  of  the 
Japanese  gold,  that,  rather  than  quit  the  prospect  of  a  trade  (in¬ 
deed  most  advantageous),  they  willingly  underwent  an  almost 
perpetual  imprisonment — for  such,  in  fact,  is  our  residence  in  De- 
cima — and  chose  to  suffer  many  hardships  in  a  foreign  and  heathen 
country :  to  be  remiss  in  performing  Divine  service  on  Sundays 
and  solemn  festivals — to  leave  off  praying  and  singing  of  psalms 
— entirely  to  avoid  the  sign  of  the  cross,  the  calling  upon  the  name 
of  Christ  in  presence  of  the  natives,  and  all  the  outer  signs  of 
Christianity;  and,  lastly,  patiently  and  submissively  to  bear  the 
abusive  and  injurious  behavior  of  these  proud  infidels  toward  us, 
than  which  nothing  can  be  offered  more  shocking  to  a  generous 
and  noble  mind.” 

So  great  was  the  horror  and  contempt  of  the  foreigner  with 
which  their  intercourse,  first  with  the  Portuguese  and  then  with 
the  Dutch,  had  inspired  the  government,  that  every  Japanese  con¬ 
nected  in  any  way  with  the  Decima  Factory  was  obliged  to  take 
certain  oaths,  the  infraction  of  which  was  visited  upon  the  delin¬ 
quent  with  the  severest  penalties.  He  was  bound  not  to  serve  the 
Dutch  but  in  the  daytime ;  not  to  enter  into  any  discourse  or  con¬ 
versation  whatever  about  the  forbidden  sect  of  the  Christians ;  not 
to  engage  in  any  familiarity  with  the  Dutch  upon  any  subject 
whatever,  besides  numerous  rigid  rules  having  reference  to  com¬ 
plicity  in  contraband  transactions.  From  the  extreme  reticence 
observed  by  all  the  officials  with  whom  we  came  in  contact  dur¬ 
ing  our  stay  in  Japan,  we  had  every  reason  to  believe  that  they 
were  bound  by  instructions,  if  not  by  oaths,  of  the  same  tenor,  in 
their  intercourse  with  us. 

It  will  doubtless  be  a  tedious  and  somewhat  difficult  task  to  dis¬ 
pel  those  unfavorable  impressions,  which  the  Japanese  can  scarce¬ 
ly  be  blamed  for  entertaining  toward  us.  Still,  their  prejudices 
upon  this  point  are  not  insuperable,  and  if  we  fail  to  remove  them, 
it  will  only  be  because  we  have  failed  to  prove  by  our  practice 
that  the  civilization  of  the  West  does  not  contaminate  those  with 
whom  it  comes  in  contact. 

Hitherto  the  Japanese  have  apparently  regarded  the  fair  sex  of 


310 


RECENT  CONCESSIONS. — NAGASAKI. 


foreign  countries  as  more  dangerous  guests  than  the  males.  A 
touching  story  is  told  of  a  certain  Dutch  President  of  Decima  of 
thirty  years  since,  one  Herr  Blomhoff,  who  brought  his  wife  to 
Nagasaki,  and,  pending  a  reference  to  Yedo,  obtained  permission 
for  her  and  her  infant  to  land  at  Decima.  Two  months  had 
scarcely  elapsed,  however,  before  a  ruthless  decree  arrived,  order¬ 
ing  the  Yrouw  Blomhoff  to  quit  the  Japanese  shores,  and  con¬ 
demning  the  unhappy  husband  to  a  long  life  of  single-blessedness. 
The  last  rumor  which  reached  us  just  before  leaving  Shanghai 
was  to  the  effect  that  a  wedding  had  been  consummated  at  Naga¬ 
saki  between  a  young  English  couple,  who  thus  inaugurated  in  a 
most  interesting  manner  the  new  and  enlightened  regime.  In 
former  times,  not  only  a  wedding,  but  a  birth  or  death  of  a  Japa¬ 
nese  was  prohibited  at  Decima.  It  was  a  more  simple  matter  in¬ 
terfering  with  the  operations  of  nature  in  the  former  than  in  the 
latter  event.  In  the  case  of  a  sudden  death,  the  body  was  secret¬ 
ly  conveyed  out  of  the  factory.  All  children  born  of  Japanese 
mothers  were  regarded  as  Japanese. 

One  of  the  most  recent  and  important  concessions  which  Mr. 
Donker  Curtius  had  obtained  from  the  Japanese  government  was 
permission  for  the  children  so  born  to  be  educated  in  Holland — 
on  condition,  however,  that  in  the  event  of  their  ever  revisiting 
Japan  they  should  be  treated  as  Dutch  subjects.  Letters  arrived 
while  we  were  at  Decima  from  that  gentleman  stating  that  he  was 
at  Ohosaka,  on  his  return  journey  from  Yedo. 

Returning  on  board  the  Furious  with  our  report  of  Decima  and 
its  inmates,  we  landed  again  in  the  afternoon  to  explore  the  town 
of  Nagasaki.  As  we  neared  the  crowd  of  boats  moored  at  the 
stone  steps  of  the  wharf,  I  experienced  that  feeling  of  pleasurable 
excitement,  the  keen  edge  of  which  becomes  so  blunted  by  the 
very  necessity  of  the  traveler’s  vocation,  that  he  often  despairs  of 
ever  again  experiencing  those  delightful  sensations  incidental  to 
strange  and  novel  scenes  which  first  lured  him  away  from  his 
fireside.  Up  to  this  moment  the  town  itself  had  been  only  par¬ 
tially  visible,  for  a  sort  of  embankment  runs  along  the  shore  at  a 
distance  of  a  few  yards  from  the  sea,  and  in  the  hollow  behind  it 
are  situated  the  principal  streets.  There  was  no  great  crowd  col¬ 
lected  to  watch  our  landing — foreigners  were  becoming  a  daily 
sight — and  we  were  allowed  to  follow  our  inclinations  in  our 
choice  of  a  line  of  exploration. 


ASPECT  OF  HOUSES. 


311 


A  flight  of  steps  ascends  the  embankment,  at  the  top  of  which 
is  situated  one  of  the  official  residences  of  the  governor.  This  em¬ 
bankment,  which  is,  in  fact,  a  sort  of  raised  parterre,  is  of  consid¬ 
erable  width,  and  a  broad  street  runs  along  its  whole  length. 
Crossing  this,  we  reach  the  head  of  the  flight  of  steps  that  descend 
into  the  town,  which  now  lies  at  our  feet.  The  view  is  peculiarly 
striking,  especially  to  the  stranger  who  has  just  arrived  from 
China.  Instead  of  an  indefinite  congeries  of  houses  built  appar¬ 
ently  on  no  settled  plan,  and  so  close  together  that  the  streets 
which  divide  them  are  completely  concealed,  we  saw  before  us  a 
wide,  spacious  street,  about  a  mile  in  length,  flanked  by  neat 
houses,  generally  of  two  stories,  with  tiled  or  wooden  roofs,  and 
broad  eaves  projecting  over  the  lower  story.  A  pave  ran  down 
the  centre  of  the  street,  on  each  side  of  which  it  was  carefully 
graveled  to  the  gutters.  No  wheeled  vehicle  or  beast  of  burden 
was,  however,  visible,  but,  in  default,  a  plentiful  sprinkling  of 
foot-passengers  gave  it  an  air  of  life  and  animation.  It  termin¬ 
ated  in  the  distance  in  a  flight  of  steps,  which  soon  disappeared 
amid  the  foliage  of  the  hill  side,  crowned  with  a  temple  or  tea¬ 
house,  or  gleaming  with  the  whitewashed  walls  of  some  fireproof 
store-house. 

As  we  traversed  its  entire  length,  no  foul  odors  assailed  our 
nostrils,  or  hideous  cutaneous  objects  offended  our  eyesight ;  nor 
did  inconvenient  walls  or  envious  shutters  debar  us  from  inspect¬ 
ing,  as  we  passed  along,  the  internal  economy  of  the  shops  and 
dwellings  on  each  side.  Light  wooden  screens,  neatly  papered, 
and  running  on  slides,  are  for  the  most  part  pushed  back  in  the 
daytime,  and  the  passer  looks  through  the  house,  to  where  the 
waving  shrubs  of  a  cool-looking  back  garden  invite  him  to  extend 
his  investigations.  Between  the  observer  and  this  retreat  there 
are  probably  one  or  two  rooms,  raised  about  two  feet  from  the 
ground ;  and  upon  the  scrupulously  clean  and  well-wadded  mat¬ 
ting,  which  is  stretched  upon  the  wooden  floor,  semi-nude  men 
and  women  loll  and  lounge,  and  their  altogether  nude  progeny 
crawl  and  feast  themselves  luxuriously  at  ever-present  fountains. 
The  women  seldom  wear  any  thing  above  their  waists,  the  men 
only  a  scanty  loin-cloth.  In  the  midday,  during  the  summer,  a 
general  air  of  languor  pervades  the  community :  about  sunset 
the  world  begins  to  wash,  and  the  Japanese  youth,  like  copper- 
colored  Cupids,  riot  tumultuously. 


312 


SHOPS  AT  NAGASAKI. 


The  shops  do  not  generally  contain  •  those  articles  in  lacker  and 
china  ware  for  which  Japan  is  so  justly  celebrated.  To  obtain 
them  we  must  visit  the  Dutch  or  Russian  bazars ;  but  our  interest 
is  kept  alive  by  the  varied  productions  of  native  manufacture  ex¬ 
hibited  in  the  shops,  which  are  as  open  to  the  street  as  stalls  at  a 
fancy-fair,  and  which  contain  all  those  articles  which  are  in  com¬ 
mon  request  among  the  people.  Umbrella,  fan,  and  shoe  shops 
abounded ;  bazars  for  toys  and  glass  ornaments  arrested  us  for  a 
moment ;  but  time  was  precious,  and  we  could  not  do  more  than 
glance  cursorily  at  the  novelties  displayed,  and  vainly  endeavor 
to  comprehend  the  object  of  various  processes  and  manufactures 
which  were  being  industriously  carried  on,  but  the  result  of  which, 
in  default  of  an  interpreter,  remained  a  mystery.  Indeed,  except 
from  the  Dutch  gentlemen  at  Decima,  we  found  it  difficult,  during 
our  short  stay  at  Nagasaki,  to  obtain  any  information,  as  only  one 
Japanese  had  picked  up  a  very  few  words  of  English.  All  the  in¬ 
terpreters  spoke  Dutch,  a  language  of  which  my  knowledge  was 
extremely  limited ;  nor  was  it  spoken  by  any  of  our  party.  Our 
rambles  through  Nagasaki,  therefore,  though  in  the  highest  degree 
amusing  and  attractive,  possessed  the  one  drawback  of  leaving  the 
curiosity  and  interest  they  had  excited  at  every  turn  unsatisfied. 
Nor  could  we  gratify  ourselves  by  making  purchases  of  curiosities. 
As  yet  we  had  not  been  introduced  to  the  government  money¬ 
changers,  who  sat  in  solemn  conclave  at  the  Russian  bazar ;  and 
no  consideration  could  induce  a  shopkeeper  to  accept  the  smallest 
or  even  the  largest  foreign  coin.  Well  did  he  know  that  the  eye 
of  his  neighbor  was  upon  him,  and  that  an  official  visit  the  next 
morning  would  remind  him  of  his  oblivion  of  that  great  national 
institution  of  universal  espionage,  which  would  with  us  be  consid¬ 
ered  an  intolerable  tyranny,  but  which  the  Japanese  regard  as  a 
necessary  ingredient  to  the  welfare  and  protection  of  society. 

We  pursued  our  peregrinations  through  the  streets  of  Naga¬ 
saki  unmolested,  and  almost  unnoticed  by  the  people,  who  did  not 
crowd  the  thoroughfares  with  busy,  noisy  clamor,  as  in  China,  but 
strolled  carelessly  along,  apparently  little  troubled  with  occupa¬ 
tion,  with  an  air  of  amiable  contentment  on  their  features,  and 
an  expression  of  kindly  good-nature  toward  the  curious,  wonder¬ 
ing  strangers.  Although  Kaempfer  speaks  of  numerous  beggars, 
I  did  not  observe  any,  with  the  exception  of  one  or  two  religious 
mendicants.  A  stream,  about  the  size  of  an  ordinary  canal,  inter- 


PLAN  OF  THE  CITY. 


313 


sects  the  town  in  a  lateral  direction,  and  is  spanned  by  thirty  or 
forty  bridges,  of  which  about  fifteen  are  solidly  constructed  of 
stone,  with  handsome  balustrades.  Balconies,  filled  with  women 
engaged  in  domestic  avocations,  overhang  the  water ;  small  boats 
ply  upon  its  surface ;  and  here  and  there  the  quaint  old  but¬ 
tresses  of  the  bridges  are  partly  concealed  with  creeping  plants, 
and  across  them  numerous  passengers  pass  and  repass.  It  is  in¬ 
teresting  to  stand  on  one  of  these  and  watch  the  humors  of  the 
place,  while  we  enjoy  the  picturesque  view  which  it  affords. 

Nagasaki  contains  upward  of  eighty  streets  crossing  each  other 
at  right  angles,  and  from  three  quarters  of  a  mile  to  a  mile  in 
length.  Its  population  is  estimated  at  about  60,000 ;  but  it  pre¬ 
sents  a  far  more  imposing  appearance,  and  covers  a  much  greater 
area  of  ground  than  a  Chinese  city  of  the  same  dimensions.  Its 
outskirts  run  up  into  the  secluded  valleys  formed  by  the  sur¬ 
rounding  hills,  the  spurs  of  which  descend  into  the  town,  so  that 
almost  every  street  terminates  in  a  flight  of  stone  steps ;  and,  in¬ 
deed,  some  of  them,  which  we  visited  afterward,  climb  the  hill 
sides,  the  houses  being  built  one  above  the  other,  as  at  Malta. 

We  terminated  our  first  day’s  explorations  of  Nagasaki  by  a 
second  visit  to  Decima,  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  the  Dutch  bazar. 
Crossing  the  moat  which  separates  the  factory  from  the  town  and 
makes  an  island  of  it,  we  pass  through  the  gateway,  under  which, 
in  a  sanctum  of  their  own,  sit  three  or  four  officials,  called  by  the 
Dutch  “  banjos,”  whose  business  it  is  to  inspect  narrowly  every 
person  seeking  ingress  and  egress,  and  every  article  or  package 
which  is  carried  in  or  out.  In  former  times  these  janitors  were 
in  a  most  responsible  position,  and  their  functions  were  regarded 
by  the  Japanese  government  as  of  the  utmost  importance.  Now, 
however,  the  recent  relaxations  with  reference  to  foreigners  have 
diminished  the  cares  of  office  ;  and  these  dreaded  custodii ,  so  long 
the  bugbears  of  the  Dutch  employes  at  Decima,  will  soon  cease  to 
exist,  or  dwindle  into  respectable  sinecurists. 

It  was  late  ere,  utterly  exhausted  by  the  interest  and  excite¬ 
ment  of  our  first  day  in  Japan,  we  sought  our  floating  home. 


i 


314 


MISSIONARY  SUCCESS  OF  XAVIER. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

Missionary  Success  of  Xavier. — Supernatural  Gifts. — Heroism  of  Japanese  Converts. 
— Theological  Arguments  of  Converts :  their  Objections  to  eternal  Punishment. — 
Louis  Almeyda. — The  Prince  of  Omura. — His  Conversion. — Founding  of  Naga¬ 
saki. — Conversion  of  Princes. — Fate  of  Nagasaki. — Death  of  Sumitanda. — Con¬ 
stitution  of  the  Japanese  Government. — The  two  Emperors. — Taiko-sama. — Per¬ 
secution  of  Christians. — Projects  of  Taiko-sama :  his  Invasion  of  the  Corea. — Na¬ 
gasaki  annexed  by  the  Ziogoon. — William  Adams. — British  Factory  in  Japan. — 
Japanese  political  Economists. — Intrigues  of  the  Dutch. — Expulsion  of  the  Portu¬ 
guese. — Establishment  of  Decima. 

Nagasaki  was  not  in  former  times,  as  it  is  now,  one  of  the  im¬ 
perial  demesnes,  or  lands  appertaining  to  the  crown.  It  became 
so  in  consequence  of  a  series  of  events  over  which  it  may  not  be 
uninteresting  to  cast  a  retrospective  glance,  as  possessing  some 
historical  importance,  and  as  illustrating  the  internal  political  con¬ 
dition  of  a  portion  of  Japan  to  which  the  earliest  associations  of 
foreigners  are  attached,  and  which  may  convey  some  idea  of  the 
working  of  that  system  of  government  which  still  prevails  in  the 
empire. 

The  first  intercourse  which  the  Japanese  held  with  foreigners 
was  of  a  character  which  induced  them  to  form  the  highest  opin¬ 
ion  of  the  advantages  which  were  to  be  derived  from  the  cultiva¬ 
tion  of  relations  with  a  race  so  far  advanced  in  civilization,  and 
under  the  influence  of  a  religion  of  an  elevating  and  apparently 
harmless  tendency.  The  zeal  and  attainments  of  the  sainted  Xa¬ 
vier,  and  that  band  of  devoted  missionaries  who  immediately  suc¬ 
ceeded  him,  produced  a  revolution  in  the  religious  sentiments  of 
a  large  and  influential  section  of  the  community.  The  history  of 
the  acts  of  these  first  apostles  of  the  Christian  faith,  as  described 
in  the  works  of  P6res  Bouhours,  de  Charlevoix,  Marini,  Froes, 
and  others,  though  written,  doubtless,  under  an  inspiration  not 
always  to  be  depended  upon,  is  a  striking  evidence  of  the  influ¬ 
ence  which  the  Christian  religion,  under  whatever  form  it  is  in¬ 
troduced,  is  calculated  to  produce  upon  minds  which  have  been 
beforehand  sufficiently  cultivated  and  civilized  to  appreciate  its 
merits.  As  in  the  Roman  world,  its  ennobling  doctrines  seized 
hold  of  the  minds  of  educated  men,  and  gradually  expelled  the 


SUPERNATURAL  GIFTS. 


315 


philosophies  and  creeds  which  had  heretofore  satisfied  them ;  so 
did  it  commend  itself  to  the  refined  and  intellectual  Japanese, 
spreading  with  a  rapidity  second  only  to  that  which  marked  its 
progress  in  the  apostolic  ages. 

If  we  are  to  believe  the  records  of  these  later  fathers  of  the 
Church,  who  have  recorded  the  history  of  the  first  missionary 
efforts  in  Japan,  that  supernatural  aid  was  not  withheld  which 
contributed  so  largely  to  the  success  of  the  first  propagators  of 
Christianity  in  the  W est :  Xavier  is  stated  to  have  been  endowed 
with  the  gift  of  tongues,  and  to  have  preached  eloquently  in  Co- 
rean,  Lewchew,  Chinese,  and  Japanese,  without  ever  having  stud¬ 
ied  a  word  of  those  extremely  complicated  languages.  His  biogra¬ 
phers  record  hundreds  of  miraculous  conversions ;  and  according 
to  Pere  Charlevoix,*  he  restored  a  dead  girl  to  life  under  circum¬ 
stances  which  utterly  confounded  his  enemies  the  bonzes,  who, 
like  the  Pharisees  of  old,  dogged  his  footsteps,  and  exerted  all 
their  energies  in  vain  to  counteract  his  daily  increasing  influence, 
and  by  secret  intrigues  and  open  arguments  to  destroy  him  and 
confute  his  doctrines. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  means  of  proselytism  which  he 
employed,  of  the  marvelous  results  there  can  be  no  doubt ;  and  it 
is  worthy  of  the  attention  of  those  interested  in  the  conversion  of 
the  heathen  to  consider  how  far  the  success  which  attends  their 
efforts  may  depend  upon  the  nature  and  amount  of  the  cultivation 
which  the  soil  has  received  before  the  seed  is  sown.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  that  the  imaginative  Japanese,  hearing  of  Christianity 
for  the  first  time,  would  receive  it  in  a  very  different  spirit  from 
an  untamed  Xew  Zealander  or  a  calmly-skeptical  Chinaman.  Xor 
was  the  faith  thus  implanted  in  the  breasts  of  some  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  converts  a  mere  nominal  creed,  to  be  swept  away  by 
the  first  wave  of  persecution.  It  not  only  furnished  them  with 
courage,  but  with  arguments  with  which  to  meet  their  persecu¬ 
tors.  The  answer  of  a  neophyte  who  was  asked  how  he  would 
respond  to  his  sovereign  if  ordered  to  abjure  Christianity,  is  thus 
recorded :  11  Sire,  would  you  wish  me  to  remain  faithful,  and  ever 
to  preserve  that  submission  which  it  is  seemly  for  a  subject  to 
feel  toward  his  king?  would  you  wish  me  to  manifest  zeal  for 
your  service  on  all  occasions  on  which  I  can  be  of  use,  so  that  no 
private  interest  should  cause  me  to  forget  what  I  owe  you  ?  would 

*  Pere  de  Charlevoix ,  vol.  ii.,  p.  42. 


316 


THEOLOGICAL  ARGUMENTS  OF  CONVERTS: 


you  wish  me  to  be  meek,  temperate,  and  loving,  full  of  charity 
toward  my  equals — that  I  should  patiently  suffer  all  the  ill  treat¬ 
ment  to  which  I  may  be  exposed  ?  command  me  then  to  remain 
a  Christian,  for  it  is  from  a  Christian  alone  that  all  this  can  be 
reasonably  expected.” 

The  early  records  of  the  Church  do  not  afford  instances  of  more 
unflinching  heroism  then  is  furnished  in  the  narratives  of  those 
martyrdoms  to  which  Japanese  of  all  ranks  were  subjected  when 
the  day  of  trial  came.  Thousands  were  slaughtered  at  Simabarra, 
thousands  more  tormented  and  put  to  death  in  cold  blood,  or  roll¬ 
ed  down  the  Pappenberg ;  yet  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  the 
last  spark  has  never  yet  been  extinguished,  and  that,  smouldering 
secretly,  the  fire  of  Frangois  Xavier  still  burns  in  the  bosoms  of 
some  of  those  who  have  received  the  traditions  of  his  teaching. 
It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  inordinate  love  of  political  power 
which  characterizes  the  disciples  of  Loyola  should  have  led  the 
successors  of  the  first  missionaries  into  intrigues  which  terminated 
so  disastrously  for  themselves  and  their  creed,  for  thereby  they 
have  closed  Japan  to  those  Protestant  missionary  efforts  which 
the  government  of  that  empire  are  now  firmly  resolved  on  re¬ 
sisting. 

Believing  that  Christianity,  whether  Catholic  or  Protestant,  is 
but  an  excuse  for  the  secret  acquisition  of  political  influence,  they 
regard  with  equal  dislike  and  suspicion  the  missionaries  of  either 
creed  ;  nor  does  it  seem  probable  at  present,  at  all  events,  that  op¬ 
portunities  will  be  afforded  us  of  teaching  them  the  difference. 
That  they  would  have  little  difficulty  in  appreciating  it,  so  far  as 
their  intelligence  is  concerned,  were  any  exposition  on  the  subject 
permitted,  there  can  be  no  doubt. 

We  have  the  record  of  a  treatise  published  by  the  Japanese 
neophytes  proving  the  superiority  of  the  Christian  religion  over 
that  of  the  sects  of  Japan,  while  the  arguments  with  which  they 
met  at  the  outset  the  teaching  of  Xavier  prove  how  competent 
they  were  intellectually  to  detect  the  mysteries  of  the  religion  he 
promulgated.  “  One  thing,”  says  his  biographer,  u  nevertheless 
arrested  the  progress  of  the  evangelist.  It  was  difficult  to  prove 
to  the  Japanese  that  those  who,  during  their  lives,  had  not  wor¬ 
shiped  the  true  God,  would  be  consigned  to  everlasting  fire  in  hell. 
They  could  not  reconcile  this  article  of  faith  with  the  infinite  good¬ 
ness  of  God.  1  If  the  incarnate  Word,’  said  they,  £  died  for  all,  why 


THEIR  OBJECTIONS  TO  ETERNAL  PUNISHMENT.  3 17 


should  not  His  death  profit  all  ?  If  He  condemns  to  eternal  pun¬ 
ishment  all  those  who  are  not  obedient  to  His  law,  why  has  he  de¬ 
layed  the  announcement  of  it  to  us  during  more  than  1500  years?’ 
The  bonzes  did  not  fail  to  support  these  objections,  and  added 
1  that  the  priests  of  the  Christians  were  good  for  nothing,  since 
they  had  not  the  power  of  drawing  one  single  soul  out  of  hell, 
whereas  this  they  themselves  accomplished  every  day  by  the  mer¬ 
it  of  their  fasts  and  prayers ;  that  this  God  must  be  either  very 
cruel  in  not  being  willing  to  put  an  end  to  the  punishment  of  the 
damned,  or  very  impotent  in  not  being  able  to  do  it.’  ” 

“  The  Japanese  love  tenderly  all  who  are  related  to  them,  by 
ties  of  blood,  and  the  memory  of  their  ancestors  is  dear  and  pre¬ 
cious  to  them.  They  could  not  be  content  to  regard  them  as  rep¬ 
robates.  1  What !’  cried  they,  bursting  into  tears,  ‘  our  fathers,  our 
children,  our  relations,  our  friends — must  they  remain  during  all 
eternity  the  unfortunate  victims  and  the  objects  of  vengeance  of  a 
God  whom  they  would  without  doubt  have  adored  if  they  had 
known  Him  ?  and  this  great  God,  who  is  represented  to  us  as  good¬ 
ness  and  equity  itself,  will  He  have  no  regard  to  their  ignorance?’ 
They  melted  into  tears  while  speaking  thus ;  the  whole  place  re¬ 
sounded  with  their  sobs  and  with  their  cries,  which  so  touching  a 
thought  made  them  send  up  to  heaven ;  and  the  missionaries  could 
not  help  mingling  their  tears  with  those  of  their  neophytes.” 

The  tears  of  their  teachers  must,  however,  have  been  but  a  poor 
consolation  to  these  unhappy  Japanese,  who  would  at  once  have 
appreciated  the  practical  distinction  in  favor  of  a  creed  which  gave 
them  the  benefit  of  the  doubt  upon  so  momentous  a  subject. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  Jesuits  confined  themselves  to 
the  propagation  of  their  faith  alone :  to  the  exertions  of  Louis  Al- 
meyda,  a  Portuguese  gentleman  of  singular  energy  and  tact,  and 
who  joined  the  order  in  Japan,  is  owing  the  successful  establish¬ 
ment  of  the  greater  number  of  those  Portuguese  colonies  of  which 
Nagasaki  became  ultimately  the  most  celebrated,  and  the  political 
importance  of  which  was  the  first  indication  that  the  emperor  re¬ 
ceived  of  the  growing  ambition  of  the  Portuguese. 

When  first  Louis  Almeyda  paid  a  round  of  visits  to  the  kings 
and  princes  of  the  island  of  Kiusiu,  those  high  dignitaries  almost 
quarreled  for  the  honor  of  his  acquaintance,  and  rivaled  each  oth¬ 
er  in  their  ardor  to  induce  him  to  form  establishments  in  their 
divers  petty  kingdoms.  He  succeeded  even  in  persuading  some 


318 


THE  PRINCE  OF  OMURA: 


of  these  princes  to  embrace  Christianity :  those  who  were  indiffer¬ 
ent  or  opposed  to  it  he  conciliated,  and  gained  the  friendship  of 
the  bonzes  themselves,  some  of  whom,  upon  one  occasion,  applied 
to  be  baptized,  and  were  only  refused  upon  the  ground  of  the  ob¬ 
ligation  under  which  they  lay  to  take  part  in  the  funeral  obsequies 
of  their  prince  in  the  event  of  his  death,  in  accordance  with  the 
religion  of  their  country. 

But  the  conversion  which  was  fraught  with  the  most  serious  con¬ 
sequences  to  Christianity  in  Japan,  and  the  ultimate  fate  of  the 
Portuguese  colonies  there,  was  that  of  the  Prince  of  Omura,  which 
was  made  in  the  year  1562.  Though  only  a  state  of  the  province 
of  Fizen,  and  in  some  sort  in  vassalage  to  his  brother  the  King  of 
Arima,  Sumitanda,  the  Prince  of  Omura,  who  had  never  taken  the 
title  of  king,  was  a  man  of  great  power  and  influence,  and  of  an 
advanced  and  enlightened  mind.  His  perusal  of  some  of  the  Jes¬ 
uit  works,  and  his  ready  and  instinctive  appreciation  of  the  ad¬ 
vantages  which  might  be  derived  from  the  introduction  of  the 
Portuguese  into  his  principality,  induced  him  to  make  overtures 
to  Almeyda,  who  was  then  at  Firando,  inviting  him  to  form  an 
establishment  in  Omura.  Notwithstanding  the  efforts  made  by 
the  King  of  Firando  to  frustrate  the  project  of  his  rival,  Sumitanda 
had  the  satisfaction  shortly  after  of  welcoming  Almeyda  to  his 
country,  and  establishing  him  in  the  port  of  Y ocotsura,  of  which 
he  made  a  concession  to  the  Portuguese. 

The  Jesuit  establishment  proved  an  attraction  to  the  Christians 
in  the  neighboring  province,  while  the  commencement  of  an  act¬ 
ive  commerce  soon  raised  the  little  collection  of  cottages,  which 
originally  formed  the  town,  to  the  dignity  of  an  active  and  bus¬ 
tling  mercantile  emporium.  Meantime  the  ecclesiastical  superiors 
of  the  establishment  devoted  themselves  to  the  conversion  of  the 
prince,  a  task  in  which  they  apparently  found  no  great  difficulty. 
He  is  said  to  have  met  them  with  these  words :  “I  am  come 
here,  my  fathers,  to  hear  your  discourse  on  your  religion.  Con¬ 
sider,  I  beseech  you,  my  heart  as  ground  well  prepared ;  do  not 
fear  to  sow  in  it  the  seed  of  the  Divine  word.  I  trust  that,  under 
the  blessing  of  Heaven,  it  may  bring  forth  fruit.  Moreover,  my 
intention  is  not  to  limit  its  fruits  to  myself  alone ;  I  hope  to  extend 
them  to  all  my  subjects.” 

The  result,  as  may  be  anticipated,  of  the  teaching  of  the  mis¬ 
sionaries  on  a  mind  so  disposed,  was  the  declaration  of  his  adhe- 


HIS  CONVERSION.— FOUNDING  OF  NAGASAKI. 


319 


sion  to  the  tenets  of  Christianity.  One  obstacle  alone  remained 
to  the  public  profession  of  his  faith.  Sumitanda  was  childless, 
and  he  feared  that  so  decided  a  step  might  involve  his  principali¬ 
ty,  so  long  as  his  throne  was  without  a  successor,  in  trouble.  He 
therefore,  for  the  present,  contented  himself  with  wearing  a  cross 
upon  his  bosom,  and,  thus  attired,  appeared  at  the  court  of  his 
relative,  the  King  of  Arima,  and  announced  his  intention  of  be¬ 
coming  a  Christian  as  soon  as  he  should  be  blessed  with  a  son 
and  heir.  The  result  of  the  visit  was  to  induce  the  King  of  Ari¬ 
ma  to  send  for  the  ever-active  Almeyda,  who  proceeded  to  form 
establishments  at  various  points  in  his  dominions.  Meantime  the 
Prince  of  Omura  was  zealously  forwarding  the  cause  of  pros- 
elytism  in  his  own  states,  and  destroying  the  temples  and  idols 
with  which  they  abounded. 

It  was  not  without  serious  opposition  that  Sumitanda  thus 
warmly  seconded  the  efforts  of  the  missionaries.  The  Buddhist 
and  Sintoo  priesthood,  finding  their  religion  thus  violently  attack¬ 
ed  by  the  highest  authority,  perceiving  that  their  influence  was 
daily  lessening,  and  their  office  becoming  discredited  in  the  eyes 
of  the  people,  entered  into  a  conspiracy,  at  the  head  of  which  they 
placed  the  illegitimate  son  of  the  former  prince.  This  was  join¬ 
ed  by  many  of  the  councilors  of  state,  who  still  remained  true  to 
their  heathen  worship.  Their  first  act  was  to  destroy  the  palace 
and  greater  part  of  the  town  of  Omura  by  fire,  and  to  proclaim 
the  usurper  prince ;  they  then  marched  upon  the  obnoxious  Por¬ 
tuguese  colony  and  Jesuit  settlement  ofVocotsura,  and  succeeded 
in  reducing  it  also  to  ashes.  Sumitanda,  however,  was  not  dis¬ 
couraged  by  these  reverses,  and,  gathering  about  him  those  who 
still  remained  faithful  to  his  cause,  he  marched  on  the  insurgents, 
whom  he  utterly  routed  and  defeated  in  a  pitched  battle  with 
great  slaughter,  taking  prisoner  and  decapitating  their  leader. 

Shortly  after  this  Sumitanda  received  a  letter  from  the  King 
of  Portugal,  congratulating  him  upon  his  conversion  to  Christian¬ 
ity,  and  swearing  eternal  friendship.  In  1569  he  formed  the 
project  of  building  a  church  at  a  spot  in  his  dominions  then  call¬ 
ed  Fucaye,  or  Long  Bay,  now  known  as  Nagasaki.  This  latter 
name  is  said  to  have  been  that  by  which  the  district  was  origi¬ 
nally  known,  when  the  property  of  a  family  of  Japanese  nobility, 
to  whom  it  belonged  previous  to  its  annexation  to  the  principal¬ 
ity  of  Omura.  Be  that  as  it  may,  Nagasaki  soon  rose  into  a 


320  CONVERSION  OF  PRINCES.— FATE  OF  NAGASAKI. 


thriving  city :  its  advantages  of  situation,  superior  to  those  of  any 
other  port  on  the  coast,  attracted  a  large  community  of  Portu¬ 
guese,  and  it  quickly  became  the  centre  of  great  commercial  act¬ 
ivity.  Meantime  the  Prince  of  Omura,  waxing  stronger  in  the 
faith,  and  more  learned  in  the  doctrines  of  Christianity,  believing 
that  inasmuch  as  “lie  that  provideth  not  for  them  of  his  own 
household  hath  denied  the  faith,  and  is  worse  than  an  infidel” — 
considering  farther,  that  a  prince  ought  to  be  to  his  subjects  what 
a  father  is  to  his  family,  and  that  he  would  be  responsible  for 
the  safety  of  those  who  died  in  unbelief — decided  on  all  his  sub¬ 
jects  becoming  Christian,  and,  collecting  the  chief  families  of  his 
state,  received  with  them  the  right  of  baptism. 

Hitherto  we  have  followed  exclusively  the  fortunes  of  Sumi- 
tanda,  Prince  of  Omura,  not  only  as  being  the  most  interesting 
and  enlightened  of  the  royal  converts  who  abounded  in  those 
days,  but  as  the  founder  of  the  settlement  destined  to  become  cel¬ 
ebrated  on  account  of  the  singular  position  it  has  since  held 
among  the  mercantile  emporia  of  the  world.  It  would  be  a 
tedious  and  somewhat  unprofitable  task  to  follow  the  Jesuit 
fathers  in  their  prolix  accounts  of  the  progress  of  Christianity 
in  all  the  different  principalities  into  which  it  was  introduced,  to 
narrate  the  wars  between  the  Princes  of  Bun  go  and  Firando,  to 
follow  the  tortuous  policy  of  the  King  of  Arima,  or  recount  at 
length  the  extraordinary  conversion  of  his  highness  of  Gotto. 
Still  more  difficult  would  it  be,  but  more  interesting  withal,  to  ac¬ 
company  the  devoted  Father  Yilela  on  his  mission  into  the  inte¬ 
rior,  and  become  involved  under  his  guidance,  at  Miako  or  Ximo, 
in  those  never-ending  intrigues  which  characterized  the  imperial 
court  in  those  days.  Father  Yilela,  more  ambitious  than  his 
predecessors  and  colleagues,  devoted  himself  to  the  conversion  of 
the  highest  dignitaries  of  the  realm,  and,  engaging  deeply  in  the 
political  complications,  which  at  that  time  were  working  out  great 
changes  in  the  government  of  the  country,  hoped  to  reap  for  the 
faith  which  he  promulgated  those  temporal  advantages  upon  the 
possession  of  which  he  relied  for  its  ultimate  triumph. 

It  may  be  necessary,  before  leaving  Japan,  to  revert  cursorily 
to  some  other  of  the  more  important  episodes  in  its  history ;  but, 
in  the  mean  time,  the  fate  of  Nagasaki  and  its  prince  more  imme¬ 
diately  claims  our  attention.  In  1579,  the  persecutions  which 
overtook  the  Christians  in  some  of  the  neighboring  principalities, 
whose  rulers  were  bitterly  hostile  to  a  faith  the  aggressive  charac- 


DEATH  OF  SUMITANDA. 


321 


ter  of  which,  they  had  begun  to  suspect,  induced  the  Portuguese 
at  Nagasaki  to  prepare  for  any  contingency  which  might  arise  in 
the  event  of  the  death  of  the  faithful  Sumitanda,  by  fortifying  the 
city.  This  was  done,  and  batteries  were  erected,  more  especially 
for  the  purpose  of  securing  the  ships  which  might  be  in  the  har¬ 
bor.  The  death  of  the  Christian  King  of  Gotto  about  this  time, 
and  the  revolution  which  succeeded  in  his  state,  drove  many  of 
his  converted  subjects  to  seek  a  refuge  at  Nagasaki.  About  five 
years  after  this,  the  King  of  Bungo,  who  had  become  a  convert, 
the  King  of  Arima,  and  the  Prince  of  Omura,  decided  on  sending 
a  mission  to  Pome,  consisting  of  four  Japanese  of  the  highest 
rank,  and  related  to  the  princes  they  went  to  represent.  These 
envoys  were  most  graciously  received  by  his  holiness,  to  whom 
they  presented  the  letters  of  which  they  were  the  bearers,  and 
which,  as  they  were  in  all  probability  written  for  them  by  the 
fathers,  are  scarcely  worth  insertion.  The  heading  of  the  King 
of  Bungo’s  is  as  follows :  “  A  celui  qui  doit  etre  adore,  et  qui  tient 
la  place  du  Roi  du  Ciel,  le  grand  et  tres  Saint  Pape.”  That  of 
the  Prince  of  Omura,  “Les  mains  eleves  vers  le  Ciel,  et  dans  les 
sentiments  d’une  veneration  profonde  j’adore  le  tres  Saint  Pape, 
qui  tient  la  place  de  Dieu  sur  la  terre,  et  lui  presente  humblement 
cette  lettre.” 

These  epistles  were  cordially  responded  to  by  Pope  Sixtus  V., 
and,  after  making  a  tour  of  Italy  and  part  of  Spain,  the  Japanese 
embassadors  returned  to  their  country  highly  delighted  with  their 
Western  experiences.  In  1587,  Sumitanda,  Prince  of  Omura, 
died,  to  the  great  grief  of  all  who  had  at  heart  the  cause  of  Chris¬ 
tianity.  He  was,  however,  consoled  during  his  last  moments  by 
the  reflection  that  in  the  long-wished-for  son,  whose  tardy  appear¬ 
ance  in  the  world  had,  it  may  be  remembered,  deferred  his  bap¬ 
tism,  he  left  behind  him  a  worthy  successor.  Notwithstanding 
the  good  intentions  of  the  young  prince,  and  the  zeal  of  bis  sub¬ 
jects,  and  many  of  the  most  influential  among  the  neighboring 
princes,  misfortunes  now  began  to  overtake  the  Christians ;  and 
the  first  of  that  series  of  events  occurred  which  ultimately  drove 
the  Jesuits  from  Japan,  and  extinguished  the  faith  they  had  la¬ 
bored  so  diligently  to  propagate.  That  we  may,  however,  appre¬ 
ciate  the  position  of  the  Christians  at  this  epoch,  it  is  necessary  to 
explain  in  a  few  words  the  conditions  under  which  the  affairs  of 
the  empire  were  being  administered. 

X 


322  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  JAPANESE  GOVERNMENT. 

In  order  to  understand  the  system  under  which  Japan  is  at 
present  governed,  it  is  scarcely  needful  to  go  back  in  our  investi¬ 
gations  to  the  reigns  of  the  five  god-men  who  between  them  ruled 
its  destinies  for  2,342,467  years,  and  whose  successors  were  all 
more  or  less  mythological  or  legendary  characters.  In  the  year 
660  B.C.,  that  theocratic  form  of  government  came  into  existence 
which  still  remains  under  altered  conditions,  and  constitutes  so 
singular  a  feature  in  the  history  of  this  people.  Combined  with 
an  ecclesiastical  hereditary  authority  of  a  very  remarkable  char¬ 
acter,  the  Mikado  in  former  times  united  theoretically  in  his  own 
person  an  absolute  and  unlimited  authority  over  those  numerous 
feudal  princes  whose  territories  composed  his  empire.  It  could 
scarcely  be  expected  that  the  prestige  attending  the  sacred  func¬ 
tions  with  which  he  was  invested,  and  the  despotic  power  which 
he  exercised,  would  prove  sufficient  in  themselves  to  check  the 
ambitious  designs  of  those  feudal  chiefs  who,  more  enterprising 
and  less  submissive  to  spiritual  despotism  than  their  fellows,  were 
tempted  to  make  war  upon  each  other,  or  even  cope  with  the  im¬ 
perial  forces.  This  state  of  affairs  reached  its  climax  about  the 
middle  of  the  twelfth  century  ;  and  so  serious  had  it  become,  that 
it  was  found  necessary  to  intrust  the  entire  command  of  the  army 
to  a  generalissimo,  who  assumed  the  title  of  Ziogoon.  The  first 
ziogoon  was  a  young  man,  by  name  Yoritomo,  celebrated  in  the 
annals  of  Japan  as  the  founder  of  that  series  of  subordinate  em¬ 
perors,  who,  after  dividing  for  a  short  time  the  temporal  power 
with  the  Mikado  or  spiritual  emperor,  ultimately  retained  exclusive 
possession  of  it,  and  who  are  now,  in  their  turn,  being  slowly 
squeezed  out  of  this  mundane  sphere  by  the  Council  of  State,  who 
do  virtually  control  the  destinies  of  the  country.  As  the  two 
emperors  are  called  by  a  variety  of  names,  it  may  be  as  well,  to 
avoid  confusion,  to  specify  them. 

The  proper  appellation  of  the  spiritual  emperor  is  Mikado,  but 
he  is  also  frequently  called  Dairi,  which  means  court  or  palace,  and 
is  an  abbreviation  of  Dairi-Sama,  or  Lord  of  the  Palace.  In  time 
of  war  the  temporal  emperor  is  called  Ziogoon,  or  Generalissimo ; 
in  time  of  peace,  Tycoon,  or  Koboe.  The  term  emperor,  as  ap¬ 
plied  to  this  dignitary,  is  one  to  which  the  Japanese  especially  ob¬ 
ject,  though  they  do  not  deny  that  in  him  is  nominally  vested  the 
supreme  temporal  power. 

One  of  the  ziogoons  of  Japan,  in  the  days  of  the  early  fathers, 


TAIKO-SAMA. 


323 


was  a  certain  Nobanunga,  originally  King  of  Mino  and  Yoari, 
and  who,  by  his  determined  energy  and  daring,  acquired  the  tem¬ 
poral  dignity.  Nominally  the  throne  of  the  tycoons  is  hereditary ; 
but  the  history  of  its  occupants  tells  the  usual  story  of  violence, 
intrigue,  and  blood. 

Under  the  influence  of  Fathers  Yilela  and  Yalegnani,  the  fierce 
and  haughty  Nobanunga  was  induced  to  regard  with  a  tolerant, 
if  not  absolutely  favorable  eye,  the  religion  of  the  W est,  and  dur¬ 
ing  his  reign  it  attained  its  most  flourishing  condition.  In  his 
answer  to  the  bonzes,  as  recorded  by  Don  Kodrigo  de  Yivero  y 
Yelasco,  who  was  shipwrecked  there  some  years  afterward,  he  dis¬ 
played  a  freedom  from  religious  bigotry  rarely  to  be  met  with  in 
civilized  countries  at  that  period.  “  The  bonzes  of  all  the  sects 
having  concurred  in  a  request  to  the  emperor  that  he  would  ex¬ 
pel  our  monks  from  Japan,  the  prince,  troubled  with  their  impor¬ 
tunities,  inquired  how  many  different  religions  there  were  in  Jap¬ 
an  ?  4 Thirty -five,’  was  the  reply.  ‘Well,’  said  he,  ‘where  thir¬ 

ty-five  sects  can  be  tolerated,  we  can  easily  bear  with  thirty-six : 
leave  the  strangers  in  peace.’  ”  This  prince  fell  a  victim,  in  the 
year  1582,  to  one  of  his  own  generals,  who,  at  the  head  of  an  army 
placed  under  his  command  by  Nobanunga,  besieged  that  monarch 
in  his  palace,  and  ultimately  consumed  it  by  fire,  burying  in  its 
ashes  the  unfortunate  Koboe  and  his  eldest  son. 

His  death  was  the  signal  for  a  struggle  for  the  vacant  throne. 
After  five  years  of  anarchy,  during  three  of  which  it  was  held  by 
Fide  Noba,  it  was  seized  by  the  celebrated  Faxiba,  or  Taiko-Sama, 
a  man  whose  early  occupation  it  had  been  to  cut  wood  in  the  for¬ 
est,  and  carry  it  on  his  shoulders  to  the  town,  bat  who,  being  orig¬ 
inally  introduced  into  the  palace  of  Nobanunga  in  a  menial  capac¬ 
ity,  was  discovered  by  that  penetrating  commander  to  be  the  pos¬ 
sessor  of  great  qualities,  rapidly  advanced  under  his  favor  to  the 
chief  command  of  his  army,  and  finally  acquired  his  throne  under 
the  pretext  of  preserving  it  for  the  grandson  of  his  benefactor. 

Taiko-Sama  (for  this  was  the  name  which  he  subsequently 
adopted,  and  which  means  “most  exalted  and  sovereign  lord”) 
was  unquestionably  the  most  remarkable  man  who  ever  filled  the 
throne  of  the  ziogoons.  Of  inordinate  ambition,  he  combined 
great  originality  of  conception  with  energy  and  skill  in  the  exe¬ 
cution  of  his  daring  projects.  Fortifying  himself  by  an  alliance 
with  the  spiritual  throne  by  his  marriage  with  the  daughter  of 


324 


PERSECUTION  OF  CHRISTIANS. 


the  Mikado,  whose  indifference  to  sublunary  affairs  does  not  ex¬ 
tend  to  his  domestic  relations,  Taiko-Sama  ruled  the  empire  with 
a  hand  of  iron.  The  condition  of  the  empire  at  this  time,  and  the 
change  effected  in  it  by  this  ziogoon,  are  thus  noticed  by  Kaem- 
pfer:  “The  ambition  and  insolence  of  the  princes  of  the  empire 
was  successively  grown  to  such  a  height,  that  at  last  it  became  al¬ 
most  impossible  for  the  ecclesiastical  emperors  to  restrain  and  con¬ 
trol  them.  In  vain  did  they,  for  four  ages  together,  send  the 
crown  generals  against  them,  at  the  head  of  numerous  armies. 
And  yet  this  great  work  was  brought  about  by  Taiko  in  about 
ten  years’  time,  not  so  much,  indeed,  by  force  of  arms,  as  by  his 
prudent  conduct  and  good  management.”  At  first  he  professed 
great  regard  for  the  missionaries  and  respect  for  their  religion,  but 
the  result  of  his  observations,  made  during  a  tour  through  the 
western  and  most  Christian  portion  of  his  dominions,  induced  him 
to  alter  his  opinion,  and  issue  an  edict  for  the  expulsion  of  every 
missionary  from  the  empire.  This  order  was  received  with  gen¬ 
eral  dissatisfaction  and  remonstrance  from  the  kings  of  Arima  and 
Omura,  which  only  increased  the  irritation  of  the  emperor,  who 
determined  upon  depriving  the  Prince  of  Omura  of  the  port  of 
Nagasaki,  and  taking  possession  of  it  for  his  own  use. 

The  fortifications  were  consequently  destroyed,  some  of  the 
churches  demolished,  and  the  town  itself  only  ransomed  at  a  large 
price  by  the  Prince  of  Omura,  who  was  allowed  to  retain  it. 
Meantime  the  missionaries  concealed  themselves  in  the  palaces 
and  cities  of  their  converts,  determined  not  to  relinquish  without 
a  struggle  a  field  in  which  their  labors  had  been  crowned  with 
such  an  abundant  measure  of  success.  For  some  time  Taiko  ap¬ 
pears  to  have  been  too  much  engaged  with  his  various  projects  to 
care  to  enforce  compliance  with  an  edict  which  may  possibly 
have  been  promulgated  in  a  moment  of  irritation.  His  general 
success  afterward  may  have  rendered  him  amiable.  Be  that  as  it 
may,  the  missionaries  speedily  emerged  from  their  hiding-places, 
and  resumed  their  efforts  with  redoubled  energy ;  while  the  ar¬ 
rival  of  the  embassadors  who  had  been  to  Rome,  under  the  guid¬ 
ance  of  Father  Valegnani,  with  the  pontifical  letters,  was  a  most 
seasonable  diversion  in  their  favor.  The  journey  to  Miako  was  a 
sort  of  triumphal  progress ;  their  reception  at  the  capital  an  ova¬ 
tion.  At  their  audience  with  the  Ziogoon  it  is  recorded  that  they 
were  dressed  like  Italians,  in  black  velvet,  and  speedily  succeeded 


PROJECTS  OF  TAIKO-SAMA. 


325 


in  creating  an  interest  in  the  narration  of  their  adventures,  and 
conciliating  the  good-will  of  their  sovereign.  Shortly  after  this 
these  four  Japanese  nobles  entered  the  Order  of  Jesus.  Mean¬ 
time  the  Governor  of  Nagasaki  and  his  colleague  occupied  them¬ 
selves,  according  to  the  Jesuit  historian,  in  prejudicing  the  mind 
of  the  Ziogoon  against  the  Christians,  and  so  far  succeeded  as  to 
induce  him  again  to  threaten  them  with  expulsion.  Ilis  answer 
to  the  letter  brought  to  him  by  Father  Yalegnani  from  the  Portu¬ 
guese  Viceroy  of  Goa  is  interesting  and  characteristic.  After  re¬ 
capitulating  at  some  length  the  success  with  which  the  execution 
of  his  projects  had  been  uniformly  attended,  and  the  flourishing 
condition  of  the  Empire  of  Japan  in  consequence,  Taiko-Sama 
goes  on  to  say : 

u  This  vast  monarchy  is  like  an  immovable  rock,  and  all  the  ef¬ 
forts  of  its  enemies  will  not  be  able  to  shake  it.  Thus  not  onty 
am  I  at  peace  at  home,  but  persons  come  even  from  the  most  dis¬ 
tant  countries  to  render  me  that  homage  which  is  my  due.  Just 
now  I  am  projecting  the  subjugation  of  China;  and  as  I  have  no 
doubt  that  I  shall  succeed  in  this  design,  I  trust  that  we  shall  soon 
be  much  nearer  to  each  other,  and  that  communication  will  be 
much  easier  between  us.  As  to  that  which  regards  religion,  J ap- 
an  is  the  kingdom  of  the  Kamis,  that  is  to  say,  of  Nim,  which  is 
the  principle  of  every  thing.  The  welfare  of  the  government, 
which  has  been  established  from  the  commencement,  depends 
upon  the  careful  observance  of  those  laws  upon  which  it  is  found¬ 
ed,  and  which  have  the  Kamis  themselves  for  their  authors.  We 
can  not  depart  from  them  without  perceiving  the  difference  which 
subsists  between  sovereign  and  subjects  disappear,  as  well  as  that 
subordination  of  women  to  their  husbands,  children  to  their  par¬ 
ents,  vassals  to  their  lords,  servants  to  their  masters.  In  a  word, 
these  laws  are  necessary  for  the  maintenance  of  order  within  and 
of  tranquillity  without.  The  fathers  who  are  called  of  the  com¬ 
pany  (of  Jesus)  are  come  into  these  islands  to  teach  another  relig¬ 
ion  ;  but  as  that  of  the  Kamis  is  too  well  established  to  be  abol¬ 
ished,  this  new  law  can  only  serve  to  introduce  into  Japan  a  di¬ 
versity  of  religion  prejudicial  to  the  welfare  of  the  state.  That  is 
why  I  have  prohibited,  by  imperial  edict,  these  foreign  doctors 
from  continuing  to  preach  their  doctrine.  I  have  even  ordered 
them  to  leave  Japan,  and  I  am  resolved  no  longer  to  allow  per¬ 
sons  to  come  here  to  £  debiter1  new  opinions.  I  desire,  neverthe- 

9 


326 


TAIKO-SAMA’S  INVASION  OF  THE  COREA. 


less,  that  our  commercial  relations  shall  remain  upon  the  same 
footing  between  us.  The  Portuguese  shall  be  allowed  to  commu¬ 
nicate  freely  with  my  subjects,  and  I  will  permit  no  one  to  do 
them  any  injury.” 

In  pursuance  of  his  scheme  for  the  subjugation  of  China,  to 
which  Taiko-Sama  makes  such  an  offhand  allusion  in  the  above 
epistle,  he  fitted  out  four  armies,  three  of  which  he  sent  to  the 
Corea,  where  they  gained  two  victories,  seized  the  capital,  drove 
the  king  from  his  throne  into  China,  of  which  empire  he  was  a 
tributary,  and  spread  consternation  far  and  wide.  A  Chinese 
army  was,  however,  speedily  dispatched  to  the  Corea,  and  after 
sundry  bloody  engagements  the  war  was  terminated  by  mutual 
consent,  Corean  embassadors  being  sent  to  treat  with  Taiko-Sama, 
who  ultimately  agreed  to  the  following  conditions :  1st.  That  of  the 
eight  provinces  of  which  the  Corea  is  composed,  five  should  be¬ 
long  to  the  Japanese ;  2d.  That  the  Emperor  of  China  should  give 
one  of  his  daughters  in  marriage  to  the  Emperor  of  Japan  ;  3d. 
That  the  commerce  which  had  been  for  so  long  interrupted  be¬ 
tween  China  and  Japan  should  be  re-established ;  4th.  That  the 
Emperor  of  China  should  pay  an  annual  tribute  to  the  crown  of 
J apan  as  a  recognition  of  the  superiority  of  the  latter  potentate. 

According  to  Ksempfer,  it  was  about  three  years  after  this,  or 
about  1596,  that  the  emperor  finally  deprived  the  Prince  of  Omu- 
ra  of  Nagasaki,  and  annexed  it  as  an  imperial  city  to  his  domin¬ 
ions.  The  Jesuit  fathers  are  wonderfully  silent  upon  his  motive 
for  this  proceeding,  but  the  Dutch  historian  states  it  to  have  been 
in  consequence  of  the  insolent  behavior  of  a  priest  to  one  of  the 
councilors  of  state  whom  he  met  in  the  street.  Whatever  may 
have  been  the  immediate  cause,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
position  of  the  Portuguese  at  Nagasaki  was  becoming  so  consoli¬ 
dated  as  somewhat  to  menace  the  integrity  of  the  empire,  a  fact 
which  sundry  emissaries,  who  were  sent  at  different  times  from 
the  Philippines  to  maintain  relations  between  the  Spanish  govern¬ 
ment  and  the  Emperor  of  Japan,  were  not  slow  to  point  out  to 
that  high  personage.  Indeed,  the  intrigues  of  the  Spaniards,  in 
their  efforts  to  dislodge  their  rivals,  form  a  fertile  and  rather  tire¬ 
some  theme  with  the  old  Jesuit  chroniclers. 

The  rivalry  of  the  Spaniards  and  Portuguese  was  religious  rath¬ 
er  than  commercial,  and  it  was  not  until  the  year  1599  that  the 
arrival  of  the  Dutch  in  Japan  imported  into  the  foreign  relations 


WILLIAM  ADAMS. 


327 


of  that  empire  a  new  element.  In  the  mean  time  hostilities  had 
recommenced  in  the  Corea,  which  had  ultimately  resulted  in  the 
withdrawal  of  the  Japanese  troops  from  that  province,  and  the 
death  of  the  redoubtable  Taiko-Sama  removed  any  farther  cause 
of  alarm  from  the  breast  of  his  Celestial  majesty. 

On  the  accession  of  his  successor  Ogosho-Sama  to  the  throne, 
both  Spaniards  and  Portuguese  redoubled  their  intrigues  against 
each  other,  and  their  combined  machinations  against  the  Dutch. 
They  made  little  impression,  however,  upon  the  enlightened  and 
liberal-minded  monarch,  who  denied  the  right  of  any  power  to 
dictate  the  policy  he  should  pursue  in  regard  to  strangers  visiting 
his  dominions,  maintaining  that  all  he  cared  for  was  the  tranquil¬ 
lity  of  his  country  and  the  welfare  of  his  people ;  and  that,  so  long 
as  strangers  paid  obedience  to  the  laws,  and  by  their  fair  and  hon¬ 
orable  dealings  promoted  the  convenience  and  enjoyment  of  his 
subjects,  it  mattered  not  to  him  to  what  nation  they  belonged,  or 
to  what  power  in  the  West  they  were  nominally  subject.  On  the 
last  occasion  when  a  joint  memorial  was  presented  on  the  subject 
by  the  Spaniards  and  Portuguese,  Ogosho  seems  to  have  lost  all 
patience,  and  he  drove  the  remonstrants  ignominiously  from  his 
presence,  vehemently  declaring  that  if  “devils  from  hell  were  to 
visit  his  realm,  they  should  be  treated  like  angels  from  heaven,” 
so  long  as  they  conducted  themselves  conformably  with  the  prin¬ 
ciples  he  had  laid  down.* 

To  Englishmen,  the  associations  connected  with  this  sovereign 
are  particularly  interesting ;  for  our  countryman  William  Adams, 
who  had  piloted  the  first  Dutch  ship  to  Japan,  and  who  was  the 
first  Englishman  who  had  reached  that  empire,  attracted  the  fa¬ 
vorable  notice  of  Ogosho-Sama  to  so  great  an  extent  that  he  in¬ 
sisted  upon  his  fairly  entering  his  service — a  fact  which  William 
Adams  thus  devoutly  alludes  to  :  “  Now  for  my  service,  which  I 
have  doen  and  daily  doe,  being  employed  in  the  emperor’s  serv¬ 
ice,  he  hath  given  me  a  living  like  unto  a  lordship  in  England, 
with  eightie  or  nintie  husbandmen,  that  be  as  my  slaves  or  serv¬ 
ants  ;  which  or  the  like  precedent  was  never  here  before  given  to 
any  stranger.  Thus  God  hath  provided  for  mee  after  my  great 
miserie,  and  to  Him  only  be  all  honnor  and  praise,  power  and 
glory,  both  now  and  forever,  worlde  without  ende.” 

Honest  Adams  proved  that  he  was  a  Christian  in  practice  as 

*  Rundall’s  Memorials. 


828 


JAPANESE  POLITICAL  ECONOMISTS. 


well  as  in  profession ;  for,  in  spite  of  the  malignant  aspersions 
which  were  thrown  upon  him  and  his  country  by  Spaniards,  Por¬ 
tuguese,  and  Dutch,  who  all  yelled  in  common  chorus  at  an  inter¬ 
loper,  he  increased  in  influence  and  weight  at  court — “  at  which 
my  former  enemies  did  wondef,  and  at  this  time  must  entreat  me 
to  do  them  a  friendship,  which  to  both  Spaniards  and  Portihgals 
have  I  doen,  recompensing  them  good  for  evill.” 

A  few  years  after  this,  in  1613,  Captain  Saris  arrived  in  Japan 
in  command  of  the  Clove,  bearing  a  letter  from  King  James  the 
First  to  the  Emperor  of  Japan,  and,  through  the  instrumentality 
of  Adams,  negotiated  a  most  favorable  treaty  with  Ogosho-Sama, 
We  established  a  factory  at  Firando  in  consequence.  It  only  ex¬ 
isted  for  ten  years,  however ;  the  bitter  animosity  of  the  Dutch, 
and  the  unscrupulous  means  they  are  said  to  have  resorted  to,  to 
obstruct  our  trade,  combined  with  the  absence  of  any  adequate 
demand  for  our  productions,  and  our  ignorance  of  the  resources 
of  the  country  with  which  we  had  opened  relations,  led  to  the 
abandonment  of  the  enterprise  after  about  £40,000  had  been  spent 
upon  it. 

Meantime  both  Portuguese  and  Dutch  were  driving  a  lucrative 
trade :  the  former  especially  had  derived  enormous  profits  from 
their  exports  of  gold  and  silver  from  Japan — so  much  so  that 
Kasmpfer  remarks,  “It  is  believed  that,  had  the  Portuguese  en¬ 
joyed  the  trade  to  Japan  but  twenty  years  longer,  upon  the  same 
foot  as  they  did  for  some  time,  such  riches  would  have  been  trans¬ 
ported  out  of  this  Ophir  to  Macao,  and  there  would  have  been  such 
a  plenty  and  flow  of  gold  and  silver  in  that  town,  as  sacred  writs 
mention  there  was  at  Jerusalem  in  the  times  of  Solomon.”  One 
of  their  own  political  economists,  writing  subsequently,  complains 
of  this.  “  I  compute,”  he  says,*  11  the  annual  exportation  of  gold 
at  150,000  kobans,  so  that  in  ten  years  this  empire  is  drained 
of  fifteen  hundred  thousand  kobans,  equal  to  about  £2,500,000. 
With  the  exception  of  medicines,  we  can  dispense  with  every 
thing  that  is  brought  us  from  abroad.  The  stuffs  and  other  for¬ 
eign  commodities  are  of  no  real  benefit  to  us.  All  the  gold,  sil¬ 
ver,  and  copper  extracted  from  the  mines  during  the  reign  of 
Ogosho-Sama,  and  since  his  time,  is  gone,  and,  what  is  still  more 
to  be  regretted,  for  things  we  could  do  well  without.” 

*  From  a  treatise  composed  in  1708  by  the  prime  minister  of  the  Emperor  Tsonna 
Yosi,  quoted  by  Titzingh  in  the  “Illustrations  of  Japan.” 


EXPULSION  OF  THE  PORTUGUESE. 


329 


We  have  no  reason,  however,  for  supposing  that  considerations 
of  political  economy  entered  into  the  policy  of  the  emperor  when 
he  determined  on  the  expulsion  of  the  Portuguese  from  his  do¬ 
minions,  and  the  toleration  of  the  Dutch  only  under  restrictions 
of  the  most  humiliating  character. 

We 'have  had  evidence  sufficient  of  the  liberal  and  tolerant  dis¬ 
position  of  successive  Japanese  monarchs  upon  the  subject  of  for¬ 
eigners  to  assume  that,  had  the  latter  confined  themselves  to  mer¬ 
cantile  operations,  that  generous  hospitality  would  still  have  been 
accorded  to  them  which  distinguished  the  Japanese  in  their  earlier 
intercourse  with  strangers. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  enter  here  upon  a  discussion  of  the 
immediate  cause  which  led  to  the  expulsion  of  the  Portuguese 
and  extermination  of  the  Christians.  It  forms  a  subject  of  much 
vehement  recrimination  between  the  Jesuit  fathers  and  early 
Dutch  chroniclers.  According  to  Ksempfer,  letters  were  inter¬ 
cepted  by  the  Dutch,  revealing  a  conspiracy  in  which  the  Japan¬ 
ese  Christians  had  engaged,  in  conjunction  with  the  Portuguese, 
against  the  emperor’s  life  and  throne.  According  to  Pere  Charle¬ 
voix,  these  letters  were  forged  by  the  Dutch  for  the  purpose  of 
giving  color  to  the  malicious  libels  which  the  latter  were  invent¬ 
ing  against  their  rivals.  However  that  may  be,  these  two  enlight¬ 
ened  Western  powers  succeeded  between  them  in  causing  the 
name  of  Christ  to  be  hated  and  despised,  and  in  hermetically  seal¬ 
ing  up  for  two  centuries  a  rich  and  productive  country,  inhabit¬ 
ed  by  one  of  the  most  amiable  and  civilized  races  in  the  world. 
The  following  proclamation  was  the  result  of  the  miserable  tri¬ 
umph  achieved  by  the  Dutch  over  their  competitors:  “No  Jap¬ 
anese  ship  or  boat  whatever,  nor  any  native  of  Japan,  shall  pre¬ 
sume  to  go  out  of  the  country;  who  acts  contrary  to  this  shall 
die,  and  the  ship,  with  the  crew  and  goods  on  board,  shall  be  se¬ 
questered  until  farther  orders.  All  Japanese  who  return  from 
abroad  shall  be  put  to  death.  Whoever  discovers  a  priest  shall 
have  a  reward  of  from  four  to  five  hundred  shuets  (equal  to  the 
same  number  of  pounds)  of  silver,  and  for  every  Christian  in  pro¬ 
portion.  All  persons  who  propagate  the  doctrine  of  the  Chris¬ 
tians,  or  bear  this  scandalous  name,  shall  be  imprisoned  in  the 
omera,  or  common  jail  of  the  town.  The  whole  race  of  the  Por¬ 
tuguese,  with  their  mothers,  nurses,  and  whatever  belongs  to  them, 
shall  be  banished  to  Macao.  Whoever  presumes  to  bring  a  letter 


i 


330 


INTRIGUES  OF  THE  DUTCH. 


from  abroad,  or  to  return  after  be  bath  been  banished,  shall  die, 
with  all  bis  family  also :  whoever  presumes  to  intercede  for  them 
shall  be  put  to  death.” 

Then  followed  that  frightful  series  of  persecutions,  not  exceed¬ 
ed  in  horror  or  ingenuity  of  torment  by  those  to  which  the  early 
Christians  were  subjected ;  and  in  carrying  out  their  ruthless  pol¬ 
icy  against  the  Christians,  the  Japanese  always  found  in  the  Dutch 
ready  and  willing  assistants.  These  importunate  traders  lost  no 
opportunity  of  insinuating  themselves  into  the  good  graces  of  the 
islanders.  They  brought  over  the  most  exquisite  objects  of  art 
and  nature  for  annual  presents,  and  demeaned  themselves  rather 
as  willing  slaves  than  as  free  burghers.  When  ordered  to  demol¬ 
ish  their  own  warehouses  and  factories  because  they  were  built  of 
finer  blocks  of  hewn  stone  than  the  buildings  of  the  country,  and 
were  inscribed  with  the  date  of  the  Christian  era,  they  did  so  with 
seeming  satisfaction,  and  finally  put  a  climax  to  their  obedience 
by  bombarding,  at  the  behest  of  the  Japanese  government,  37,000 
Christians  who  were  cooped  up  within  the  walls  of  Simabarra. 

It  was  about  this  time,  or  in  1636,  that  Decima  was  founded. 
Since  that  period  the  Dutch  have  been  confined  to  its  limited 
area,  and  have  consistently  pursued  the  policy  which  had  been  in¬ 
augurated  under  such  tragical  circumstances.  During  these  last 
two  hundred  years  they  have  not  even  had  the  profits  of  a  lu¬ 
crative  trade  to  console  them  for  the  ignominy  with  which  they 
have  been  treated ;  on  the  contrary,  it  has  steadily  diminished  in 
proportion  as  the  indignities  to  which  they  have  been  exposed 
have  increased,  so  that  they  have  been  glad,  during  these  last  few 
years,  to  make  a  merit  of  necessity,  and  profess  an  earnest  desire 
to  assist  in  promoting  intercourse  between  the  Japanese  and  other 
nations.  Already  their  monopoly  has  disappeared.  In  the  race 
which  is  about  to  ensue,  their  full-bosomed  old  craft  will  drop  be¬ 
hind  the  horizon,  and  in  ten  years  hence  the  Dutch  trade  with 
Japan  will  have  become  matter  of  history. 


SURFEIT  OF  SENSATIONS. 


331 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Surfeit  of  Sensations. — The  Dutch  and  Russian  Bazars. — Money-changers. — Tempt¬ 
ing  Investments. — Visit  from  the  Vice-governor. — A  Riding-school. — Surround¬ 
ing  Country. — A  Visit  to  a  Tea-garden. — Feasting  and  Music. — Productions  of 
Fizen. — Coal  Mines. — Prince  of  Satsuma. — Japanese  Classes  at  Nagasaki. — Mil¬ 
itary  Organization. — A  Gale  of  Wind. — Volcanic  Eruptions. — Places  of  future 
Punishment. — A  stormy  Night. — Arrival  at  Simoda. — Dangerous  Harbor. 

I  find  it  difficult,  in  attempting  to  convey  our  first  impressions 
of  Japan,  to  avoid  presenting  a  too  highly-colored  picture  to  the 
mind  of  the  reader.  The  contrast  with  China  was  so  striking,  the 
evidences  of  a  high  state  of  civilization  so  unexpected,  the  circum¬ 
stances  of  our  visit  were  so  full  of  novelty  and  interest,  that  we 
abandoned  ourselves  to  the  excitement  and  enthusiasm  they  pro¬ 
duced.  There  exists  not  a  single  disagreeable  association  to  cloud 
our  reminiscences  of  that  delightful  country.  Each  day  gave  us 
fresh  proofs  of  the  amiable  and  generous  character  of  the  people 
among  whom  we  were.  Each  moment  of  the  day  furnished  us 
with  some  new  fact  worthy  of  notice.  Our  powers  of  observation 
were  kept  constantly  on  the  stretch,  but  one  felt  they  were  over¬ 
taxed  ;  the  time  was  too  short ;  sights  and  impressions  crowded 
on  each  other  with  a  painful  rapidity  and  variety.  It  was  like 
being  compelled  to  eat  a  whole  pate  de  fois  gras  at  a  sitting ;  the 
dish  was  too  rich  and  highly  charged  with  truffles  for  one’s  men¬ 
tal  digestion.  At  the  time  it  was  delicious ;  it  is  only  afterward, 
when  you  try  to  arrange  the  facts  and  describe  the  experiences, 
that  the  inconvenience  attending  a  surfeit  of  sensations  of  this  sort 
makes  itself  felt. 

When  we  landed  at  the  factory  early  next  morning  we  found 
it  crowded  with  British  purchasers,  both  at  the  Dutch  and  Rus¬ 
sian  bazars ;  lackered  and  china  ware,  bronzes  and  delicate  basket- 
work,  were  arranged  in  tempting  display.  The  beauty  and  ele¬ 
gance  of  all  we  saw  delighted  and  astonished  us :  it  was  only  when 
we  had  “shopped”  at  Yedo  that  we  came  to  hold  Nagasaki  work¬ 
manship  at  a  proper  estimation,  and  to  appreciate  the  difference 
between  those  articles  which  are  manufactured  and  exhibited  there 
for  the  European  market,  and  those  which  are  made  for  the  J ap- 


332 


THE  DUTCH  AND  RUSSIAN  BAZARS. 


anese  themselves.  As  a  rule,  Nagasaki  lacker  is  of  a  most  infe¬ 
rior  description ;  the  shapes  and  patterns  are  nearly  all  of  Dutch 
suggestion,  and  the  mother-of-pearl  with  which  they  are  so  abund¬ 
antly  and  gorgeously  inlaid  is  purely  a  Western  invention.  The 
egg-shell  china  is  also  manufactured  for  the  European  market :  it 
is  an  exquisitely  delicate  fabric,  made  principally  in  the  provinces 
of  Fizen  and  Satsuma,  and  not  used  by  the  Japanese  themselves. 
We  were  not  able  to  obtain  any  of  the  thinnest  description  at 
Yedo. 

In  bronzes  the  Japanese  far  excel  the  Chinese,  the  design  and 
workmanship  being  infinitely  superior.  At  Nagasaki,  the  result 
of  intercourse  with  Europeans  for  two  centuries  and  a  half  is 
very  apparent.  There  were  to  be  seen  admirable  telescopes  of 
native  manufacture,  clocks,  magnifying-glasses,  and  glass-ware  of 
various  descriptions,  besides  many  imitations  of  European  fabrics. 
The  Russian  bazar,  which  was  situated  on  the  main  land,  is  built 
like  an  Eastern  caravanserai ;  it  is  a  paved  square,  surrounded 
with  small  wooden  houses  and  verandas,  full  of  articles  for  sale. 
At  the  entrance  gateway  are  a  certain  number  of  officials,  who 
now  take  little  heed  of  the  visitor,  and  always  appeared  to  me  en¬ 
gaged  in  making  servile  obeisances  to  one  another,  and  drinking 
very  hot  tea  out  of  curiously-constructed  steamers.  The  chief 
building  in  the  square  is  devoted  to  the  exchange  of  foreign  mon¬ 
ey  for  Japanese  paper  currency. 

In  an  up-stairs  room,  approached  by  a  scrupulously  clean  stair¬ 
case,  on  the  upper  step  of  which  is  a  row  of  Japanese  slippers,  sit 
three  or  four  grave  two-sworded  officials  round  a  table  on  which 
are  placed  two  boxes,  one  full  of  metallic,  the  other  of  paper  cur¬ 
rency.  It  is  useless  to  endeavor  to  persuade  a  Japanese  shop¬ 
keeper  to  take  a  foreign  coin,  however  large  and  tempting  it  may 
be.  The  government  has  forbidden  him  to  receive  any  thing  from 
the  foreigner  but  the  little  oblong  pieces  of  card  which  bear  the 
government  stamp ;  so  to  this  little  room  every  foreigner  is  com¬ 
pelled  to  resort  to  obtain  an  available  circulating  medium.  The 
currency  between  the  foreigners  and  the  tradespeople  is  taels, 
mace,  can,  and  cash :  in  name  the  same  as  in  China,  but  represent¬ 
ing  very  different  values,  inasmuch  as  Japanese  paper  money  is 
granted  by  the  treasury  in  exchange  for  Spanish  and  Mexican 
dollars  at  the  rate  of  four  taels  seven  mace  per  dollar. 

Meantime  there  is  a  great  crush  of  naval  officers  round  the  small 


VISIT  FROM  THE  VICE-GOVERNOR. 


333 


table,  and  the  usual  manifestation  of  impatience  on  the  part  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon,  but  the  Japanese  lose  neither  “count”  nor  “coun¬ 
tenance.”  They  maintain  the  affable  imperturbability  of  croupiers 
at  Herman  gambling-tables.  They  never  make  a  mistake,  nor 
cease  to  smile  blandly ;  and  if  we  are  in  a  hurry,  we  had  better 
make  up  our  minds  to  sit  quietly  on  a  bench  near  the  window 
which  overlooks  the  canal  till  our  turn  comes.  We  can  watch 
the  boats  plying  with  heavy  loads  along  it,  and  observe  the  fam¬ 
ily  arrangements  of  the  houses,  with  balconies  overhanging  it ;  or 
we  can  look  inward,  and  wonder  at  the  extraordinary  cleanliness 
of  the  padded  mat  under  our  feet,  and  the  inexhaustible  patience 
of  the  money-changers,  and  moralize  over  the  difference  in  the 
civilization  and  national  characters  of  Englishmen  and  Japanese, 
and  try  whether  Mr.  Buckle’s  theory  will  account  for  them ;  or 
we  may  look  out  of  the  opposite  window  into  the  yard,  where  an 
extensive  and  lucrative  business  is  being  carried  on  by  the  Jap¬ 
anese  licensed  by  the  government  to  trade  with  Europeans.  They 
are  struggling  manfully  with  the  English  language ;  are  inflex¬ 
ible  as  regards  price,  not  to  be  beaten  down,  and  are  almost  as  im¬ 
portunate  and  insinuating  in  their  manner  to  the  foreign  young 
gentlemen  as  if  it  was  a  fancy  bazar  for  a  charitable  purpose,  and 
they  were  English  young  ladies  and  had  stalls.  Then  there  are 
officious  porters  in  readiness  to  carry  away  purchases ;  but  their 
services  are  rejected  by  independent  middies,  who  prefer  stagger¬ 
ing  away  under  their  own  lacker,  and  all  the  while  at  the  entrance- 
gate  reverential  greetings  are  continually  going  on,  and  the  imbib¬ 
ing  of  hot  tea. 

But  we  must  not  linger  too  long  here,  for  the  vice-governor  is 
coming  on  board  to  lunch,  and  it  is  time  for  us  to  return  to  the 
ship  to  receive  him.  He  arrives  seated  in  the  bows  of  a  stately 
barge,  surrounded  by  a  number  of  attendants,  and  with  numerous 
black  and  white  flags  fluttering  from  the  stern.  lie  is  a  plebeian¬ 
looking  man,  with  an  extremely  smiling  countenance  and  very 
short  legs.  They  are  incased  in  loose  trowsers,  not  unlike  knick¬ 
erbockers,  of  damask  embroidery,  of  a  pattern  that  would  be  con¬ 
sidered  rather  too  gaudy  for  curtains.  He  bows  repeatedly  and 
rapidly,  and  his  two  swords,  like  a  double  tail,  cock  up  respons¬ 
ively.  His  legs,  below  the  knee,  are  neatly  gaitered,  and  his 
stockinged  feet  are  thrust  into  straw  sandals.  Across  his  bosom 
are  many  folds  of  fine  cotton,  which  compose  his  shirt,  and  over 


334 


A  RIDING-SCHOOL. 


it  a  thin  gauze  tunic  completes  his  costume.  Luncheon  has  been 
prepared  for  him  and  some  of  his  followers,  and  he  is  soon  seated 
at  Lord  Elgin’s  right  hand,  drinking  Champagne,  and  handling 
his  knife  and  fork  as  if  he  usually  lived  in  London.  The  other 
Japanese  present  seemed  equally  accustomed  to  Western  man¬ 
ners.  The  vice-governor  had  been  sent  on  the  part  of  the  gov¬ 
ernor  to  express  his  regret  that  illness  prevented  his  seeing  Lord 
Elgin,  and  at  the  same  time  to  request  that  the  yacht,  which  he 
understood  had  been  brought  over  as  a  present  to  the  emperor, 
should  be  made  over  to  the  Japanese  governor  at  Nagasaki.  As 
Lord  Elgin  depended  chiefly  for  an  excuse  for  proceeding  to  Yedo 
upon  the  necessity  of  delivering  the  yacht,  if  possible,  to  the  em¬ 
peror  himself,  he  assured  the  governor  that  it  was  not  in  his  pow¬ 
er  to  part  with  the  yacht  except  at  the  capital.  Finding  that  no 
arguments  were  of  any  avail  to  divert  Lord  Elgin  from  this  de¬ 
termination,  the  vice-governor  gave  up  the  matter  as  hopeless,  and, 
after  discoursing  with  considerable  intelligence  upon  the  recent 
treaty  with  China  and  other  topics  of  interest,  he  took  his  leave. 

As  Lord  Elgin  had  not  yet  seen  much  of  the  town,  I  accom¬ 
panied  him  on  shore  on  another  tour  of  exploration.  In  the 
course  of  our  walk  we  came  to  a  large  inclosure,  and  on  entering 
it  found  fifteen  or  twenty  men  on  horseback,  galloping  and  curvet¬ 
ing  about  a  considerable  area,  apparently  used  as  a  riding-school. 
This  we  understood  was  the  constant  afternoon  amusement  of  the 
“  young  bloods”  of  Nagasaki.  They  were  all  men  of  fortune  and 
family,  princes  and  nobles  of  the  land,  and  this  was  their  Eotten 
Row.  They  rode  fiery  little  steeds,  averaging  about  fourteen 
hands  in  height,  and  took  a  delight  in  riding  full  gallop  and  pull¬ 
ing  up  short,  after  the  favorite  manner  of  Arabs.  The  saddles 
were  constructed  on  the  same  principle  as  they  are  in  China,  but 
with  less  padding.  The  stirrup-leathers  were  short,  and  the  stir¬ 
rups  like  huge  slippers  made  of  lacker.  The  bit  was  powerful, 
and  the  reins  were  of  muslin,  but  strong  notwithstanding.  The 
most  remarkable  feature  in  the  costume  of  the  riders  was  their 
hats :  these  were  like  shields,  almost  perfectly  flat,  made  of  lacker, 
and  fastened  on  the  head  by  a  variety  of  lashings.  Two  strings 
crossed  each  other  at  the  back  of  the  head,  two  crossed  under  the 
nose,  and  two  more  under  the  chin.  It  is  as  much  trouble  to  tie 
on  a  Japanese  hat  as  to  put  on  a  pair  of  skates ;  and  when  it  is 
done,  the  face  looks  all  laced  over,  as  if  there  was  something  seri- 


SURROUNDING  COUNTRY. 


335 


ous  the  matter  with  it.  Still  it  is  wonderful  how  effectual  the 
lashing  was,  and  how  firmly  the  flat  roof,  or  rather  “tile,”  seemed 
fixed  on  their  heads. 

When  we  appeared,  two  or  three  gooddooking  young  men  pull¬ 
ed  up  near  us,  jumped  off  their  horses,  and  most  good-naturedly 
pressed  them  upon  us.  I  took  a  short  uncomfortable  gallop  upon 
one  with  a  propensity  to  kick,  and  was  glad  soon  to  relinquish  him 
to  his  smiling  owner.  We  were  much  struck  by  the  gentleman¬ 
like  and  unconstrained  bearing  of  these  young  men,  who  evident¬ 
ly  wished  to  show  us  all  the  civility  in  their  power. 

Before  leaving  Nagasaki  we  wished  to  extend  our  wanderings 
beyond  the  immediate  limits  of  the  streets.  The  city  itself,  like  a 
lover  at  the  feet  of  his  mistress,  nestles  at  the  base  of  wooded  hills 
of  exquisite  form,  as  though  it  did  not  venture  to  profane  with  its 
coarse  touch  those  lovely  slopes  which  are  dedicated  to  the  wor¬ 
ship  of  Buddh  and  the  Cytherean  goddess,  for  these  hill  sides  are 
dotted  with  the  most  enchanting  sites,  and  every  one  of  them  is 
occupied  with  a  temple  or  a  tea-house. 

In  Japan,  religion  is  not  used,  as  in  some  countries,  to  conceal 
immorality,  but  rather  to  give  it  countenance  and  support,  so  that 
practically  there  is  very  little  difference  here  between  a  temple 
and  a  tea-house.  Both  are  situated  in  grounds  beautifully  laid 
out.  In  landscape-gardening  the  Japanese  excel  every  other  na¬ 
tion  in  the  world.  Both  are  resorted  to  as  agreeable  retreats  from 
the  turmoil  and  bustle  of  the  city.  The  most  delightful  arbors, 
the  choicest  dishes,  and  the  softest  music,  are  provided  equally  at 
one  and  the  other. 

It  is  estimated  that  there  are  sixty -two  temples  (large  and  small) 
and  seven  hundred  and  fifty  tea-houses  on  the  hills  round  Naga¬ 
saki,  all  offering  to  the  Japanese  in  search  of  repose  delicious  tea 
and  extensive  panoramic  views.  It  is  worth  while  climbing  up 
to  some  of  them,  if  only  to  enjoy  the  latter.  Old  moss-grown 
steps  ascend  the  steep  hill  side,  and  you  pass  through  venerable 
gateways  and  up  more  massive  flights  to  a  fairy-like  wooden 
structure  perched  on  a  projecting  point,  and  backed  by  terraced 
gardens  and  cool  shady  groves  that  lead  to  grottoes,  where  spark¬ 
ling  water  gushes  from  the  hill  side.  The  building  seems  con¬ 
structed  with  a  view  to  the  prospect  it  commands.  The  bare, 
softly -mat ted  rooms  are  surrounded  with  deep  verandas,  and  from 
every  angle  a  fresh  scene  of  beauty  meets  the  eye.  Behind  us  are 


336 


A  VISIT  TO  A  TEA-GARDEN. 


wooded  dells,  and  more  temples  and  tea-houses.  At  our  feet  the 
city  is  mapped  out,  and  we  can  inspect  the  back  premises  of  the 
houses  of  families,  who  are  all  at  this  hour  engaged  in  domestic 
ablutions.  It  is  delightful  to  see  papa,  mamma,  and  all  the  chil¬ 
dren  splashing  so  harmoniously  in  the  back  garden.  Beyond  the 
town  are  more  terraced  hills,  and  the  beautiful  winding  harbor 
losing  itself  in  deep  creeks  and  bays,  to  all  appearance  a  placid 
lake,  for  the  ocean  is  nowhere  visible. 

Meantime  the  dinner,  which  has  been  ordered,  has  arrived. 
Spread  out  upon  the  floor  in  lackered  bowls,  it  occupies  the  great¬ 
er  portion  of  the  room.  It  has  been  quickly  and  deftly  arranged 
by  a  train  of  neatly  dressed  maidens,  who  now  seat  themselves 
round  it  and  invite  us  to  partake.  We  have  long  since  taken  off 
our  shoes,  and  now  squat  in  a  circle  on  the  floor,  and  gaze  with 
curiosity,  not  unmixed  with  alarm,  at  the  display  before  us. 
There  is  raw  fish  thinly  sliced,  and  salted  ginger;  there  are 
prawns  piled  up  with  a  substance  which  in  taste  and  appearance 
very  much  resembles  toffy;  there  are  pickled  eggs  and  rock- 
leeches,  and  pieces  of  gristle  belonging  to  animals  unknown,  to  be 
eaten  with  soy;  and  yams  and  pears,  and  various  sorts  of  fruits 
and  vegetables,  prepared  some  of  them  palatably  enough ;  but  still 
the  experiment  is  hazardous,  and  we  are  relieved  at  the  sight  of  a 
bowl  of  rice  as  a  safe  piece  de  resistance. 

The  ministering  spirits  seem  to  delight  in  pressing  upon  us  the 
nastiest  things,  apparently  for  the  amusement  which  our  wry  faces 
afford  them.  Presently  another  troop  of  damsels  with  lutes  and 
tom-toms  come  tripping  in ;  but  they  elicit  from  their  musical  in¬ 
struments  the  most  discordant  sounds  to  our  non -Japanese  ears, 
so  that  we  are  glad  to  take  refuge  in  the  balcony,  and  having  once 
more  feasted  our  eyes  upon  the  fading  prospect,  we  descend  from 
our  airy  position  to  the  streets,  now  rapidly  subsiding  into  that 
early  evening  stillness  which  gives  evidence  that  the  good  folks 
of  Nagasaki  do  not  allow  either  business  or  pleasure  to  steal  from 
them  the  best  hours  of  the  night. 

We  should  have  regretted  that  our  stay  at  Nagasaki  was  to  be 
so  short,  had  we  not  had  Yedo  in  prospect.  We  had  scarcely  an¬ 
ticipated,  on  our  departure  from  Shanghai,  so  brilliant  a  pro¬ 
gramme  as  the  one  which  was  gradually  unfolding  itself.  The 
arrival  of  the  admiral  in  the  Calcutta  set  any  doubt  we  had  on  the 
matter  finally  at  rest.  It  had  been  his  original  intention  to  hand 


PRODUCTIONS  OF  FIZEN. 


337 

oyer  the  yacht  himself.  This,  however,  was  now  impossible,  as 
his  presence  was  urgently  required  at  Canton,  where  the  state  of 
affairs  was  far  from  satisfactory.  Under  these  circumstances,  it 
was  arranged  that  Lord  Elgin  should  proceed  with  the  yacht  to 
Yedo,  as  it  was  evidently  desirable  that  no  time  should  be  lost  in 
proceeding  upon  this  mission.  It  was  therefore  impossible  for  us 
to  attempt  to  go  upon  any  of  those  expeditions  into  the  country 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Nagasaki,  which  Europeans  have  lately 
been  allowed  to  make.  I  understood  that  the  princes  of  the 
neighboring  territories  of  Fizen  and  Tsikuzen  were  both  favor¬ 
ably  disposed  toward  Europeans.  Fizen  is  indeed  one  of  the 
most  productive  provinces  in  the  empire,  yielding  a  revenue  to 
its  prince  amounting,  it  is  said  by  Siebold,  to  £360,000  annually. 
Besides  rice  and  various  descriptions  of  gum,  it  produces  tea,  to¬ 
bacco,  and  cotton,  vegetable  tallow,  iron,  sulphur,  cinnabar,  and 
marble. 

There  is  a  coal  mine  at  a  place  called  Wuku  Moto,  in  the  inte¬ 
rior,  which  some  of  the  Dutch  mission  have  descended.  They 
describe  the  mine  as  being  well  and  judiciously  worked,  and  the 
coal  as  bituminous  in  its  nature,  and  made  into  coke  for  use. 

Old  Kaempfer  tells  a  story,  by  way  of  illustrating  the  volcanic 
nature  of  the  country,  of  a  coal  mine  in  the  province,  which, 
through  the  carelessness  of  the  miners,  took  fire,  and  has  been 
burning  ever  since.  A  very  excellent  description  of  porcelain  clay 
is  found  here,  and  the  European  demand  for  egg-shell  china,  which 
is  sold  in  great  quantities,  is  chiefly  supplied  by  the  provinces  of 
Fizen  and  Satsuma.  The  prince  of  the  former  state  is,  so  far  as 
we  could  learn  from  our  Dutch  informants  at  Nagasaki,  a  man  of 
tolerabty  advanced  views;  he  does  not  seem,  however,  to  have 
succeeded  in  thoroughly  divesting  himself  of  old  prejudices. 
This  was  illustrated  a  short  time  prior  to  our  visit  by  his  refusal 
to  allow  the  Dutch  to  enter  his  territory  to  put  up  a  steam-engine 
which  he  himself  had  ordered  out  from  Europe  to  pump  the  wa¬ 
ter  out  of  one  of  his  coal  mines.  It  should  be  noticed  as  the  most 
interesting  feature  connected  with  this  province,  that  it  is  said  to 
produce  the  most  beautiful  women  in  the  empire. 

But  the  Prince  of  Satsuma  was  the  great  hero  of  the  Dutch  res¬ 
idents  at  Nagasaki,  he  having  at  different  times  invited  them  to 
visit  him.  This  prince,  who  has  died  since  our  visit,  is  said  to 
have  been  the  most  enlightened,  as  he  was  one  of  the  most  pow- 

Y 


338 


PRINCE  OF  SATSUMA. 


erful,  of  the  independent  princes.  In  close  alliance  with  the  late 
emperor,  who  had  married  his  daughter,  he  possessed  great  influ¬ 
ence  at  Yedo,  where  he  owned  no  less  than  nine  town-houses. 
His  is  one  of  the  families  from  which,  when  a  direct  heir  fails  to 
the  temporal  throne,  an  heir-presumptive  is  selected.  One  of 
the  ancestors  of  their  great  line  was  the  conqueror  of  the  Lew- 
chew  Islands.  The  province  of  Satsuma  contains  vast  quantities 
of  the  sulphur  which  may  form  an  item  in  our  trade  with  Japan. 
At  its  southern  extremity  is  situated  the  island  of  Ivogasima,  or 
Sulphur  Island,  which  is  said  to  burn  incessantly.  The  mines  on 
this  island  yield  the  Prince  of  Satsuma  an  annual  revenue  of  two 
hundred  chests  of  silver.  I  was  informed  by  Captain  Katendyke, 
a  Dutch  gentleman  at  Nagasaki,  that  this  prince  had  already  es¬ 
tablished  an  electric  telegraph,  which  was  in  successful  operation 
between  his  palace  and  his  capital  city,  Kagosima,  a  distance  of 
about  three  miles.  He  has  also  extensive  glass  factories  and  can¬ 
non  foundries,  in  which  eight  hundred  workmen  are  employed. 

Under  Captain  Katendyke’s  direction,  the  Japanese  were  at  that 
time  carrying  out  some  extensive  public  works  in  the  harbor. 
These  principally  consisted  of  a  machine  shop  and  foundry,  with 
all  the  appurtenances  necessary  for  the  building  and  repairing  of 
steamers,  which  the  emperor  had  recently  determined  on  estab¬ 
lishing  at  Nagasaki.  For  the  last  six  months  prior  to  our  arrival 
the  Dutch  engineers  had  been  engaged  collecting  machinery ;  a 
large  quantity  had  already  arrived. 

The  spot  selected  for  the  erection  of  the  various  buildings  is  in 
a  beautiful  valley,  sloping  down  to,  and  terminating  at,  the  left 
bank  of  the  harbor,  entering  from  seaward  opposite  Nagasaki. 
We  observed  a  boat-load  of  Dutch  artificers  and  engineers  cross 
to  it  daily,  but  had  not  time  to  inspect  their  progress  ourselves. 
It  was  calculated  that  two  years  would  elapse  before  the  works 
could  come  into  operation.  A  pier  several  hundred  feet  in  length, 
and  extending  out  sufficiently  far  to  insure  twenty  feet  at  low 
water,  was  being  built  immediately  in  front,  and  as  a  part  of  the 
establishment.  In  the  construction  of  this  pier,  the  Japanese 
workmen,  under  Dutch  direction,  were  making  constant  use  of  a 
diving-bell  and  Nasmyth’s  hammer. 

Japanese  are  allowed  to  enter  these  works  as  apprentices,  in 
order  to  perfect  themselves  in  engineering  and  mechanics,  and  so 
strong  are  their  acquisitive  propensities,  where  knowledge  is  con- 


MILITARY  ORGANIZATION. 


339 


cerned,  that  several  princes  have  sought  and  obtained  permission 
from  the  emperor  to  place  themselves  under  instruction,  and  are 
to  be  seen  daily  at  the  works,  busily  engaged  at  the  lathe,  the 
vice,  or  the  forge,  as  the  case  may  require,  while  others  may  be 
found  in  the  drafting-room,  preparing  the  necessary  drawings  for 
the  various  departments.  Besides  this,  there  has  been  for  some 
years  a  naval  school.  By  accounts  we  have  received  from  Na¬ 
gasaki,  dated  April  last,  we  learn  that  an  imperial  decree  has  been 
received  from  Yedo,  directing  that  the  naval  school  be  removed 
from  Nagasaki  to  the  capital,  the  government  believing  that  their 
officers  have  attained  such  proficiency  in  navigation  as  to  enable 
them  to  dispense  with  farther  instruction  in  that  department. 
This  conclusion  appears  to  have  been  arrived  at  from  their  screw 
steamer  Yedo  having  lately  made  a  successful  passage  from  Na¬ 
gasaki  to  Yedo  in  nine  days,  unaccompanied  by  any  foreigner. 
The  school  of  engineers,  however,  above  alluded  to,  is  still  to  be 
continued,  as  well  as  one  of  medicine  and  surgery,  which  has  been 
for  some  time  in  existence,  and  very  well  attended. 

Upon  levies  raised  by  the  princes  of  Fizen  and  Tsikuzen  would 
depend  the  defense  of  Nagasaki  and  the  adjacent  coast  in  the  event 
of  a  war  between  Japan  and  any  foreign  country.  Every  inde¬ 
pendent  prince  throughout  the  country  is  bound  to  contribute  a 
certain  quota  of  troops  to  assist  those  of  the  imperial  government. 
So  large  a  proportion  of  the  male  population  is  considered  avail¬ 
able  for  this  purpose,  that  the  standing  army  of  Japan  ranks  prob¬ 
ably  among  the  largest  in  the  world,  though  totally  deficient  in 
that  training  or  scientific  knowledge  of  the  military  art  which 
would  render  it  formidable  to  a  civilized  people. 

The  occupation  of  a  soldier  is  held  in  high  estimation  in  the 
country.  They  belong  to  the  fourth  social  grade,  and  are  called 
Samlai,  holding  their  lands  by  a  nominal  tenure  of  their  feudal 
superiors,  in  consideration  of  their  military  service.  The  imperial 
troops,  as  distinguished  from  those  of  the  feudal  princes,  have 
been  estimated  at  100,000  foot  and  20,000  horse.  I  do  not  feel 
certain,  however,  that  my  authority  for  this  is  to  be  relied  upon. 

At  three  o’clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  5th  of  August  we 
weighed  anchor,  and  steamed  out  of  Nagasaki  harbor,  the  Retri¬ 
bution,  yacht,  and  Lee  gun-boat  in  company.  Just  as  we  did  so 
a  salvo  of  guns  announced  a  foreign  sail  in  sight,  and  as  we  clear¬ 
ed  the  Iwo-Sima  Islands  we  discerned  a  large  Butch  ship  beating 


340 


A  GALE  OE  WIND. 


bravely  up  from  the  southward.  We  little  guessed  that  at  that 
moment  a  storm  was  brewing  which  should  in  a  few  hours  strew 
the  ribs  of  that  goodly  craft  upon  the  rocks  under  our  lee,  and 
drive  us  for  a  shelter  under  the  wild  headland  of  Chichakoff 
We  went  under  easy  sail,  so  as  to  get  daylight  for  our  passage 
through  Yan  Diemen’s  Straits,  and  found  ourselves  next  morning 
between  two  conical  volcanic  peaks,  the  apparent  counterpart  of 
each  other,  about  2500  feet  in  height,  and  situated  some  twenty 
miles  apart.  The  wind  now  freshened  to  a  gale ;  rocks  and  islands 
studded  this  little-known  sea  in  every  direction;  and,  as  the 
weather  thickened,  it  became  evident  that  we  must  seek  some 
friendly  harbor  in  which  to  ride  out  the  violence  of  the  gale. 

It  was  an  anxious  moment  as  we  felt  our  way  under  the  bluff 
cliffs  of  Cape  Chichakoff,  sounding  in  vain,  and  poking  our  nose 
into  unpleasant  proximity  to  breakers.  Beyond  the  storm-beaten 
cape  we  need  not  hope  for  shelter.  Our  only  chance  was  to  push 
up  the  deep  unsurveyed  Bay  of  Kagosima  until  we  found  a  safe 
anchorage.  Fortunately  we  had  not  far  to  go — a  slight  indenture 
in  the  coast,  with  a  few  fishing  cottages  on  the  sandy  beach,  and 
a  boat  or  two  hauled  up  on  it,  gave  promise  of  an  anchorage, 
which  we  found  about  a  mile  distant  from  the  shore.  It  was  an 
iron-bound  coast,  the  steep  grassy  hills  terminating  in  rocky  bluffs, 
at  the  base  of  which  the  sea  broke  heavily.  Here,  however,  as 
long  as  the  wind  continued  in  one  direction,  we  were  secure,  and 
accordingly,  within  a  cable’s  length  of  us  the  Retribution  and 
yacht  were  soon  moored.  Of  the  Lee,  however,  we  had  seen 
nothing  since  the  previous  evening,  and  were  not  a  little  anxious 
as  to  her  fate.  We  almost  regretted  that  fortune  did  not  drive 
us  up  the  bay  to  Kagosima,  the  capital  of  Satsuma,  where  we 
should  have  had  an  opportunity  of  visiting  the  residence  of  the 
prince,  and  of  inspecting  the  progress  of  those  foreign  arts  and 
inventions  which  he  has  introduced,  and  which  have  already 
contributed  so  largely  to  the  prosperity  of  the  chief  city  of  his 
province. 

The  whole  of  this  section  of  the  coast  of  Japan  is  eminently 
volcanic ;  peaked  mountains  were  observable  far  inland,  while 
out  to  seaward  peaked  islands  gave  evidence  of  their  fiery  origin. 
In  the  island  of  Kiusiu  alone,  at  the  southernmost  point  of  which 
we  were  now  at  anchor,  there  are  no  less  than  five  active  volca¬ 
noes  ;  of  these  one  is  in  Satsuma,  but  the  most  celebrated  is  the 


VOLCANIC  ERUPTIONS. 


o  M 
Oil 

Wunzen-take,  or  the  “High  Mountain  of  warm  Springs,”  in  Fi- 
zen.  An  account  of  one  of  its  eruptions  is  contained  in  the  Chi¬ 
nese  Repository.  In  1793  the  summit  of  the  mountain  sank  en¬ 
tirely  down ;  torrents  of  boiling  water  issued  from  all  parts  of 
the  deep  cavity  which  was  thus  formed,  and  the  vapor  arose  like 
thick  smoke.  In  one  of  its  eruptions  it  is  recorded  to  have  de¬ 
stroyed  the  ill-fated  city  of  Sima  Barra,  when  35,000  persons  are 
said  to  have  perished.  Old  Father  Froes,  writing  in  1586,  tells  a 
story  of  a  strong  castle  in  the  kingdom  of  Mino,  built  at  the  top 
of  a  hill,  which,  after  several  violent  shocks,  sank  down  and  dis¬ 
appeared  of  a  sudden — “  the  earth  gaping  that  not  the  least  foot¬ 
step  remained,  a  lake  quickly  filling  the  place  where  the  founda¬ 
tions  of  the  castle  had  been.  Another  accident  of  this  kind  oc¬ 
curred  in  the  province  of  Tkeja.  Very  many  gaps  and  openings 
were  observed  up  and  down  the  empire,  some  of  which  were  so 
wide  and  deep  that,  guns  being  fired  into  them,  the  balls  could 
not  be  heard  to  reach  the  other  end,  and  such  a  smoke  and  stench 
issued  out  of  them  that  people  would  not  venture  to  travel  that 
way.”  Ksempfer  describes  a  small  island  near  Firando  which  has 
been  burning  and  trembling  for  centuries ;  while  many  hot  and 
sulphurous  springs  bubble  up  all  over  the  empire,  and  are  much 
frequented  for  the  healing  qualities  they  are  supposed  to  possess. 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  in  such  a  country  of  fire  and  brim¬ 
stone,  that  the  inhabitants  should  speculate  learnedly  upon  the 
infernal  regions,  and  now  and  then  choose  some  seething  well  or 
flaming  mountain  as  the  descensus  Averni.  They  have,  moreover, 
decided  upon  the  various  departments  of  punishment.  To  one 
spring,  which  is  covered  at  the  top  with  a  white  cream-like  froth, 
are  consigned  pastry-cooks  and  confectioners  who  practiced  adul¬ 
teration  while  in  this  life ;  while  deceitful  brewers  pass  a  misera¬ 
ble  existence  in  a  spring  as  thick  and  muddy  as  the  beer  or  sakee 
they  sold  their  customers. 

To  ride  at  anchor  on  wild,  stormy  nights  off*  such  an  “  uncan¬ 
ny”  coast,  was  like  being  condemned  to  sleep  in  a  haunted  room. 
We  were  a  prey  to  vague  imaginary  terrors,  and  never  knew 
whether,  in  some  convulsion  of  nature,  the  waters  might  not  sud¬ 
denly  recede,  and  leave  us,  as  they  did  the  Russian  frigate  Diana, 
stranded  on  the  bottom. 

We  remained  at  anchor  in  this  dismal  spot  for  about  thirty-six 
hours,  during  which  time  the  gale  blew  with  such  violence  as  to 


342 


ARRIVAL  AT  SIMODA. 


render  it  impossible  to  attempt  a  landing.  About  midnight  on 
the  7th,  however,  it  shifted  suddenly.  Captain  Osborn,  anticipat¬ 
ing  a  quick  change,  had  hove  the  cable  short,  and  we  were  under 
weigh  in  a  few  minutes  with  a  blinding  wind  and  sea  in  our  teeth, 
and  our  bows  under  at  every  heave.  The  huge  pointed  rocks  off 
ChichakofF  loomed  black  and  threatening  in  the  thick  darkness, 
and  we  could  hear  the  waves  roaring  against  them  as  we  strug¬ 
gled  past  this  point — the  Retribution,  with  the  yacht  in  tow,  do¬ 
ing  her  work  manfully,  and  her  light,  like  an  ignis  fatuus ,  dancing 
on  the  waves  close  to  our  quarter.  We  did  not  know  until  we 
met  her  at  Yedo,  just  a  week  afterward,  how  nearly  the  Lee  had 
left  her  bones  to  whiten  on  that  inhospitable  coast.  Nailed  to  a 
lee  shore  for  some  hours,  her  life  was  despaired  of  by  her  gallant 
commander,  Captain  Grahame,  whose  skill  and  seamanship,  ably 
seconded  by  Captain  Colin  Campbell,  who  was  on  board  as  a  guest 
at  the  time,  rescued  her  from  her  precarious  predicament. 

Though  it  blew  very  hard  for  the  three  following  days,  the 
wind  was  fair,  and  we  made  rapid  progress.  On  the  morning  of 
the  10th  we  saw  on  the  distant  horizon  the  lofty  cone  of  Fusi- 
yama,  a  mountain  of  whose  very  existence  I  had  heretofore  been 
ignorant,  and  whose  celebrity  we  did  not  even  then  suspect.  At 
that  great  distance  it  was  a  striking  object.  Towering  over  all 
minor  elevations,  it  reared  its  snow-streaked  crest  to  a  height  of 
12,000  feet  above  the  sea,  presenting  in  its  form  and  outline  very 
much  the  appearance  of  Mount  Etna.  According  to  Japanese 
accounts,  it  has  not  been  active  for  upward  of  a  century.  Alter¬ 
ing  our  course  for  this  landmark,  so  worthy  the  great  city  of 
Yedo,  we  made  out  shortly  on  our  starboard  beam  the  u  Isles 
Brisees,”  and  near  them  the  active  volcano  of  Yries,  with  a  puff 
of  smoke  resting  above  it  as  though  a  shell  had  burst  upon  its 
apex. 

Our  immediate  destination  was  Simoda,  but  its  narrow  entrance 
on  that  bay-indented  coast  was  somewhat  difficult  to  find.  As 
we  neared  the  shore  we  observed  numerous  craft  dodging  in  and 
out  of  harbors,  and  playing  at  “hide-and-seek”  round  bold  green 
headlands,  and  behind  rocky  islets ;  and  at  last  we  opened  the 
snug-looking  bay  of  Simoda,  and  glided  into  its  peaceful  waters 
between  shores  heavily  clothed  with  timber,  and  resplendent  with 
brilliant  foliage.  Deep  coves  invited  the  tempest-tossed  fisherman 
to  calm  security,  the  entrance  guarded  by  rocks,  the  shores  feath- 


DANGEROUS  HARBOR. 


343 


ered  to  the  water’s  edge,  and  the  water  itself  clear  as  crystal,  and 
alive  with  glancing  fishes.  We  only  gazed  wistfully  into  these 
tempting  retreats,  too  small  for  any  thing  hut  a  fishing-boat,  and 
steamed  gently  on  into  the  tranquil  harbor,  in  which  two  large 
rocks,  rising  from  its  centre,  are  a  picturesque  but  most  incon¬ 
venient  feature.  One  of  these,  called  Centre  Island,  is  perforated 
with  a  cavern  and  crowned  with  trees.  The  water  is  deep  all 
round  it,  and,  as  long  as  the  wind  is  not  blowing  from  the  south¬ 
east,  is  perfectly  smooth. 

To  the  unwary  visitor  the  harbor  seems  the  perfection  of  secu¬ 
rity,  so  snugly  embayed ;  while  above  it  the  hills  rise  in  tumbled 
masses,  surrounding  the  little  town,  and  giving  birth  to  the  river 
that  winds  its  sluggish  course  through  a  valley  that  might  be  in 
fairyland,  to  the  sea.  With  a  sullen  plunge  the  anchor  falls  into 
the  water  deep  and  blue  within  a  few  yards  of  the  shore,  and  sends 
a  throb  of  fresh  excitement  through  our  veins  as  we  gaze  with 
ecstasy  on  the  lovely  scene  around  us,  and  prepare  to  explor.e  its 
unknown  charms. 


344 


RESIDENCE  OF  THE  AMERICAN  CONSUL. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Residence  of  the  American  Consul. — A  Hermitage. — Visit  to  the  American  Consul. 
— His  recent  Success  at  Yedo. — Bazar  at  Simoda. — Torturing  Indecision. — A  Jap¬ 
anese  Grave-yard. — Buddhist  Temples. — The  Sintoo  Religion. — Household  Gods. 
— A  Japanese  Temple. — Doctrines  of  the  Sintoos. — Theological  Speculations. — 
The  Value  of  Sintooism. — A  Visit  from  the  Governor. — An  expensive  Form  of 
Politeness. — General  Appearance  of  Simoda. — Voyage  up  the  Bay  of  Yedo. — Jap¬ 
anese  Cottages. — Kanagawa. — Approach  to  Yedo. 

At  the  head  of  the  Bay  of  Simoda,  and  about  a  mile  distant 
from  the  town,  is  situated  a  pleasant  grove  of  trees.  Its  mysteri¬ 
ous  shades  are  dedicated,  doubtless,  to  religious  purposes,  and  con¬ 
ceal  in  their  solemn  recesses  some  picturesque  old  temple,  in  which, 
for  an  untold  number  of  years,  shriveled  priests  have  performed 
their  sacred  functions.  It  is  a  spot  eminently  suggestive  of  re¬ 
pose  and  religious  retirement ;  and  we  could  scarcely  believe  our 
eyes  when,  on  bringing  our  telescopes  to  bear,  we  distinguished, 
fluttering  among  the  leaves  of  a  sacred  Bo-tree,  the  well-known 
combination  of  red,  white,  and  blue  which  forms  the  national  flag 
of  our  transatlantic  cousins.  Yet  so  it  is;  the  stars  and  stripes 
wave  proudly  over  the  premises  originally  occupied  by  some  re¬ 
cent  incarnation  of  Buddh ;  and  Mr.  Harris,  the  American  consul, 
has  converted  the  shrine  of  that  divinity  into  a  four-poster.  We 
learn  all  this  from  Mr.  Hewsken,  Mr.  Harris’s  secretary,  who  comes 
off  to  visit  us  before  we  have  had  time  to  land,  and  who  brings 
Lord  Elgin  an  offer  of  services  on  the  part  of  the  American  consul. 

I  landed  with  Lord  Elgin  to  pay  Mr.  Harris  a  visit.  The  ex¬ 
ternal  aspect  of  his  abode,  as  seen  from  the  ship,  did  not  belie  its 
romantic  character  upon  a  closer  acquaintance.  Had  one  wished 
to  retire  altogether  from  the  cares  and  anxieties  of  this  trouble¬ 
some  world,  it  would  be  difficult  to  conceive  a  retreat  more  per¬ 
fectly  adapted  for  the  purpose.  When,  however,  entire  and  total 
seclusion  is  the  result  rather  of  necessity  than  choice,  it  is  small 
consolation  to  feel  that  you  are  imprisoned  in  a  corner  admirably 
suited  to  a  recluse.  Often,  in  the  course  of  his  wanderings,  the 
traveler  is  struck  with  the  charms  of  some  silent  nook  in  this 
bustling  universe.  His  first  impression  is,  “  What  a  delightful 


VISIT  TO  THE  AMERICAN  CONSUL : 


345 


spot  for  a  hermit!” — his  next,  “How  I  should  pity  the  poor 
wretch !”  For  disciples  of  Zimmerman,  notwithstanding,  or  lovers 
in  a  Petrarchian  state,  Japan  offers  greater  attractions,  probably, 
than  any  other  country  in  the  globe,  but  neither  Mr.  Harris  nor 
Mr.  Hewsken  seemed  altogether  to  appreciate  them.  A  well- 
stored  library,  and  a  few  rooms  comfortably  fitted  up,  gave  an 
agreeable  air  of  civilization  to  the  establishment;  but  what  can 
compensate  for  two  years  of  almost  entire  isolation  and  banish¬ 
ment  from  communion  with  one’s  fellow-men  ?  Except  upon  the 
rare  occasions  of  Simoda  being  visited  by  some  foreign  vessel, 
these  two  gentlemen  had  not  seen  a  creature  with  whom  they 
could  exchange  an  idea.  They  had.  been  for  eighteen  months 
without  receiving  a  letter  or  a  newspaper,  and  two  years  without 
tasting  mutton — -sheep  being  an  animal  unknown  in  Japan.  Still, 
this  exile  had  not  the  effect  of  disgusting  them  with  the  country 
of  their  banishment.  Mr.  Harris  spoke  in  terms  even  more  eulo¬ 
gistic  than  those  universally  employed  by  the  Hutch  of  the  Jap¬ 
anese  people.  His  residence  among  them,  under  circumstances 
which  compelled  him  to  form  intimate  relations  with  them — for 
they  were  his  only  companions — only  served  to  increase  his  high 
opinion  of  their  amiable  qualities  and  charming  natural  disposi¬ 
tions.  He  told  us  numerous  anecdotes  illustrative  of  this,  more 
especially  of  the  extraordinary  attention  shown  him  by  the  em¬ 
peror  and  empress  on  the  occasion  of  a  serious  illness  which  he 
had  suffered.  The  emperor  insisted  on  sending  his  own  medical 
man  to  attend  upon  him,  while  her  majesty  delighted  in  providing 
him  with  culinary  delicacies,  prepared  by  herself,  and  suited  to  his 
state  of  health. 

Mr.  Harris  had  only  recently  returned  from  Yedo,  where  he  had 
just  succeeded  in  negotiating  a  more  favorable  treaty  with  the 
Japanese  government  than  had  been  made  since  the  days  of  Cap¬ 
tain  Saris.  He  had  passed  some  months  in  that  city,  during  which 
time  both  he  and  Mr.  Honker  Curtius  had  been  engaged  in  fruit¬ 
less  efforts  to  induce  the  government  to  accede  to  their  terms.  In 
1855  the  latter  gentleman  had  concluded  a  mercantile  arrange¬ 
ment,  by  which  certain  concessions  were  allowed  to  foreigners ; 
but  the  cumbersome  machinery  of  the  Geldkammer  was  still  re¬ 
tained,  and  the  monopoly  of  the  trade  was  reserved  to  the  Japan¬ 
ese  government,  under  conditions  which  rendered  the  concessions 
worthless  to  nations  engaged  in  commerce  upon  enlightened  prin- 


346 


HIS  RECENT  SUCCESS  AT  YEDO. 


ciples.  Mr.  Harris,  however,  was  determined  to  make  a  treaty 
worthy  the  progressive  people  whom  he  represented;  and  Mr. 
Donker  Curtius,  finding  him  so  engaged,  repaired  to  Yedo,  de¬ 
termined,  if  possible,  not  to  be  outdone.  It  so  happened  that  his 
precautions  were  unavailing. 

Finding  the  J apanese  government  inexorable,  both  gentlemen 
left  in  despair — Mr.  Honker  Curtius  upon  a  long  overland  jour¬ 
ney  of  two  months  to  Nagasaki,  Mr.  Harris  to  return  to  Simoda. 
He  had  scarcely  reached  it,  however,  before  the  Powhattan  ar¬ 
rived  with  intelligence  of  the  Treaty  of  Tientsin.  Mr.  Harris  then 
lost  not  a  moment  in  himself  carrying  the  news  of  this  to  the  cap¬ 
ital  ;  and  while  Mr.  Honker  Curtius  was  journeying  laboriously  to 
Nagasaki,  ignorant  of  the  great  events  which  had  taken  place,  his 
rival  had  signed  his  treaty,  and  was  back  again  at  Simoda  repos¬ 
ing  on  his  laurels. 

We  walked  along  the  edge  of  the  bay  from  Mr.  Harris’s  temple- 
abode  to  the  town.  Simoda  is  a  mean  place  compared  with  Na¬ 
gasaki,  and  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  why  Commodore  Perry 
should  have  fixed  upon  it  as  a  port.  Even  in  those  days  it  was 
little  more  than  a  fishing  village,  and  since  then  it  has  been  visit¬ 
ed  by  an  earthquake,  from  the  effects  of  which  neither  town  nor 
harbor  has  yet  recovered.  Always  exposed,  even  where  the  an¬ 
chorage  was  tolerable,  there  is  now  no  holding-ground  in  the  event 
of  a  storm,  so  completely  did  that  terrible  convulsion  of  nature 
change  the  surface  of  the  bottom. 

The  town,  which  is  situated  at  the  debouching  of  the  small  river 
into  the  sea,  is  composed  of  a  few  mean  streets,  running  at  right 
angles  to  each  other,  and  contains,  probably,  from  three  to  four 
thousand  inhabitants.  At  one  corner  of  it  is  a  bazar  established 
for  the  benefit  of  foreigners,  containing  lacker  of  a  superior  de¬ 
scription  to  that  exhibited  at  Nagasaki,  and  sundry  articles  of  na¬ 
tive  manufacture  I  had  observed  before.  Among  others,  I  bought 
some  water-proof  great-coats  for  eighteen  pence  apiece,  made  of 
wax  paper,  and  as  completely  effectual  in  a  storm  of  rain  as  the 
best  mackintosh  that  ever  was  manufactured.  They  are  very 
light  and  portable,  the  only  drawback  being  a  liability  to  tear ; 
but  then  they  are  half  the  price  of  a  pair  of  white  kid  gloves. 

These  bazars  are  the  most  tantalizing  of  resorts.  There  is  so 
much  displayed,  and  it  is  all  so  beautiful  and  new,  that  one  walks 
through  avenues  of  brilliant  novelties  in  a  stupefied  condition  of 


BAZAR  AT  SIMODA. 


347 


mind,  and  with  a  strong  sensation  of  overwhelming  responsibility. 
If  any  body  would  only  come  and  tell  one  which  to  choose,  and 
what  was  most  likely  to  be  admired  at  home.  Alas !  every  body 
else  is  buying  furiously ;  nobody  seems  to  have  a  doubt  upon  the 
subject;  all  the  best  things  are  being  bought  up  under  your  nose, 
and  there  you  stand  bewildered  and  dismayed ;  so  you  finally  de¬ 
termine  to  buy  recklessly  and  indiscriminately  until  your  pocket 
is  emptied  of  its  contents.  The  process  is  simple.  As  soon  as 
the  article  is  determined  upon,  the  Japanese  vendor  hands  you  a 
slip  of  paper  and  a  fine  hair  brush  dipped  in  ink.  On  this  you 
write  your  name  and  the  price,  after  which  you  convey  the  sim¬ 
plest  expression  of  which  your  name  will  admit  to  the  Japanese, 
who  writes  in  his  own  language  the  nearest  approximation  which 
his  ear  retains  of  the  uncouth  sound.  At  the  end  of  the  day  you 
proceed  to  a  sort  of  bureau,  where  all  the  purchases  are  piled  up, 
duly  labeled,  and  their  prices  attached.  These  are  added  up  by 
the  officials  employed,  and  the  foreign  coin  which  is  tendered 
taken  by  weight.  There  is  no  haggling  in  the  first  instance,  or 
disputes  afterward;  every  thing  is  managed  with  perfect  order 
and  system. 

Another  inconvenience  attending  these  bazars  is  the  waste  of 
time  which  they  involve.  One  is  a  martyr  to  one’s  conscience  all 
the  while.  What  business  have  you  to  stand  and  stare  at  lacker 
all  day,  when  the  town  and  its  neighborhood  are  to  be  explored, 
and  numerous  interesting  and  important  facts  are  to  be  observed 
and  noted?  It  is  less  expensive  and  more  instructive  to  turn 
one’s  back  upon  this  scene  of  extravagance,  and  start  off  in  search 
of  the  novel  and  the  picturesque.  We  have  not  far  to  go.  Just 
behind  the  bazar  rises  a  densely-wooded  hill,  and  of  course  it  is 
adorned  with  temples  and  shrines,  which  we  reach  by  clambering 
up  long  flights  of  steps,  and  find  little  figures  standing  behind 
strips  of  colored  paper,  and  inscriptions,  and  the  ashes  of  a  sacred 
fire.  We  look  down  over  the  town  and  bay,  and  then  follow  a 
romantic  path  which  winds  through  the  damp  impenetrable  shade 
formed  by  dense  foliage,  and  suddenly  opens  upon  an  extensive 
grave-yard,  where  quaintly-carved  tomb-stones  are  planted  thick 
under  the  tall  trees.  The  graves,  of  which  these  monuments  indi¬ 
cate  the  position,  are  said  to  be  of  circular  form,  plastered  with 
lime  to  prevent  the  infiltration  of  water.  According  to  old  Ar- 
noldus  Montanus,  the  women  are  placed  in  these  in  a  sitting  pos- 


348 


A  JAPANESE  GRAVE-YARD. 


ture,  with  their  hands  separated,  and  their  faces  turned  as  though 
looking  over  the  shoulder ;  the  men  are  seated  in  a  devotional  at¬ 
titude,  with  their  hands  clasped.  The  tomb-stones  are  called  sisek, 
and  some  of  them  are  elaborately  carved,  and  adorned  with  repre¬ 
sentations  of  warriors  fighting,  or,  in  the  case  of  women’s  graves, 
with  drawings  of  flowers.  The  inscriptions  are  carved  in  the 
stone,  and  left  in  that  condition  until  the  owner  of  the  grave  be¬ 
comes  its  occupant,  when  they  are  gilt. 

Altogether,  a  Japanese  grave-yard,  abundantly  supplied  with 
tall  sculptured  monumental  stones,  many  of  them  hoary  and  moss- 
grown,  embowered  amid  dense  foliage,  and  overshadowed  by  the 
twisted  gables  of  some  sacred  edifice,  is  an  object  of  interest  and 
tranquil  beauty,  calculated  to  produce  in  the  mind  of  the  stranger 
from  the  Western  world  a  strong  impression  in  favor  of  a  people 
whose  taste  and  sentiments  upon  so  solemn  a  subject  seem  to  be 
in  accordance  with  his  own. 

We  passed  from  the  grave-yard  into  the  temple.  The  interior 
was  a  spacious  hall,  matted  and  hung  with  large  lanterns ;  a  cen¬ 
tre  space,  inclosing  sacred  tapers,  and  images  of  different  sizes, 
was  railed  off,  as  is  usual  in  Buddhist  temples.  To  those  not 
deeply  versed  in  the  mysteries  of  the  religion,  neither  the  princi¬ 
pal  idol  nor  the  general  aspect  of  the  building  seemed  to  differ 
very  much  from  temples  dedicated  elsewhere  to  the  same  wor¬ 
ship  ;  but,  inasmuch  as  there  are  thirty -five  sects  in  Japan,  or,  at 
any  rate,  were  in  the  days  of  Nobanunga,  there  was  doubtless 
much  that  was  not  orthodox  in  the  temple  in  question.  The 
priest,  a  venerable  old  man  in  a  long  gray  robe,  was  remarkably 
civil  to  us;  but,  as  it  was  impossible  to  exchange  an  idea  with 
him,  we  contented  ourselves  by  looking  as  pleased  and  interested 
as  we  could. 

The  numerous  temples  in  the  neighborhood  of  Simoda  form  the 
most  attractive  feature  in  its  environs.  They  are  more  easily  ap¬ 
proached  than  those  at  Nagasaki :  there  is  less  climbing,  and  the 
walks  are  prettier.  Under  almost  every  hill  is  hidden  a  yasiro 
or  miya :  the  entrance  gateway  is  probably  composed  of  two  mon¬ 
oliths,  and  resting  upon  them  a  long  block  of  stone,  upturned  at 
the  ends,  and  perhaps  curved  in  the  centre;  from  this  a  broad 
paved  avenue  leads  to  a  flight  of  steps,  at  the  top  of  which  sits  en¬ 
shrined  a  many-armed  divinity.  Dense  groves  of  bamboos  and 
other  trees  offer  a  delicious  and  refreshing  shade  to  the  pedestrian, 


THE  SINTOO  RELIGION. 


349 


who  can  lounge  upon  the  hottest  day  along  shady  walks  from  one 
temple  to  another,  and  smoke  innumerable  cigars  on  the  steps  of 
them.  Most  of  these  temples  bore  a  strong  resemblance  to  each 
other ;  one,  however,  which  we  visited,  differed  entirely  from  the 
rest,  and  this  we  discovered  to  be  Sintoo. 

A  Japanese  on  a  visit  to  this  country,  who  should  endeavor  to 
impart  to  his  friends  in  Japan  some  idea  of  the  varied  shades  of 
religious  opinion  which  obtain  in  it,  would  find  but  little  light 
thrown  on  the  subject  by  the  comparison  and  inspection  of  any 
number  of  cathedrals,  churches,  or  chapels ;  and  if  his  time  was 
limited,  and  his  interpreter  imperfect  and  not  versed  in  theol¬ 
ogy,  his  account  of  the  religious  denominations  of  the  British 
empire  would  be  somewhat  confused.  So,  of  our  own  knowledge, 
we  can  say  but  little  of  the  religions  of  Japan ;  that  one,  however, 
which  is  entitled  to  be  called  the  national  religion,  and  which 
dates  from  the  earliest  period,  is  the  religion  ofSinsyn,  or  “Faith 
of  the  Gods.”  The  votaries  are  called  Sintoos,  and  its  temporal 
head  is  the  Mikado,  or  Spiritual  Emperor.  The  divinity  who  is 
the  chief  object  of  adoration  is  the  goddess  Ten-sio-dai-zin,  or  pa¬ 
tron  deity  of  Japan.  She  was  the  daughter  of  the  first  god  who 
ever  married,  and  who  created  the  world,  which  then  consisted  of 
Japan :  prior  to  him  there  extends  a  mythological  history  scarce¬ 
ly  necessary  to  follow.  This  goddess  with  the  long  name  was 
succeeded  by  four  terrestrial  gods,  the  last  of  whom  married  a 
mortal  wife,  and  left  a  mortal  son  upon  earth,  the  immediate  pred¬ 
ecessor  of  the  mikados. 

This  mikado,  besides  being  the  spiritual  emperor  of  Japan,  is  a 
species  of  intercessory  mediator  between  his  subjects  in  this  world 
and  the  spirits  and  canonized  beings  of  the  next.  In  many  re¬ 
spects  his  functions  seem  very  similar  to  those  of  the  Pope.  In 
him  rests  the  power  of  canonization,  a  much-coveted  honor  among 
the  kamis  and  great  men  of  the  empire.  When  canonized,  they 
retain  the  name  of  kami  in  the  next  world,  and  are  chiefly  use¬ 
ful  in  interceding  with  the  goddess  Ten-sio-dai-zin,  who  can  not 
be  approached  directly ;  so  every  Sintoo  Japanese  has  his  patron 
kami,  who  are  enshrined  in  his  house,  and  constitute  his  Lares  and 
Penates.  The  kamis  are  divided  into  superior  and  inferior,  492 
being  born  gods,  and  2640  being  deified  or  canonized  men. 

The  temple  we  visited  contained  numbers  of  these  little  shrines, 
with  representations  of  kami,  together  with  models  of  ships  and 


350 


A  JAPANESE  TEMPLE. 


other  curiosities  called  Jemma,  which,  however,  are  only  placed 
there  as  donations  by  grateful  worshipers,  to  furnish  amusement 
to  persons  frequenting  the  temple.  The  building  itself  was  de¬ 
void  of  all  architectural  pretension,  and  of  a  slate-color,  the  inte¬ 
rior  remarkable  for  its  simplicity  as  compared  with  Buddhist  tem¬ 
ples.  Its  chief  external  peculiarity  consisted  in  a  curious  orna¬ 
mented  spire,  of  which  the  annexed  Japanese  drawing  will  con¬ 


vey  a  better  idea  than  any  description.  The  popular  mountain 
of  Fusi-yama  appears  in  the  background  covered  with  snow. 
The  distinguishing  feature  of  Sintoo  temples  is  a  looking-glass,  as 
emblematic  of  the  soul’s  purity.  On  the  right-hand  side,  on  en¬ 
tering,  was  a  sort  of  font  containing  water,  and  opposite  to  it  a 
large  bell.  An  oblong  open  box,  laced  across  the  top  with  wire, 
is  a  conspicuous  object  to  remind  the  worshipers  of  their  duties  as 
almsgivers.  The  form  of  worship  is  very  simple.  Church-goers 
commence  by  washing  themselves  in  the  font ;  they  then  pray  op¬ 
posite  the  looking-glass,  asking  for  their  necessities  as  we  do ;  then 
chink  a  few  coppers  into  the  wire-covered  box,  strike  the  bell  thrice 


DOCTRINES  OF  THE  SINTOOS. 


351 


as  a  signal  that  it  is  all  over,  and  retire.  Some,  with  a  metaphys¬ 
ical  turn  of  mind,  suppose  that  God  sees  into  their  hearts  as 
plainly  as  they  do  into  the  looking-glass,  and  therefore  do  not 
pray  at  all. 

I  observed  many  strips  of  white  paper,  called  by  Siebold  “  Go- 
hei,”  and  on  which  Japanese  characters  were  inscribed.  Ksempfer 
states  that  the  Sintoo  believes  in  Elysian  or  sub-celestial  fields  as 
the  abode  of  disembodied  spirits,  but  that  he  is  a  universalist  in 
the  matter  of  future  punishment,  and  can  form  no  idea  of  a  devil 
except  as  represented  by  a  fox.  Siebold,  however,  says  that  “the 
Sintooist  has  a  vague  notion  of  the  soul’s  immortality — of  an  eter¬ 
nal  state  of  future  happiness  and  misery,  as  the  reward  respective¬ 
ly  of  virtue  or  vice — of  separate  places  whither  the  soul  goes  aft¬ 
er  death.  Heavenly  judges  call  each  to  account:  to  the  good  is 
allotted  Paradise,  and  they  enter  the  realm  of  the  kami ;  the  wick¬ 
ed  are  condemned,  and  thrust  into  hell.”  Certainly  the  famous  dis¬ 
pute  about  the  color  of  the  devil  would  go  to  show  that  they  be¬ 
lieve  in  one,  and  disprove  Kkempfer’s  assertion.  The  following  is  a 
translation  of  a  text  from  one  of  their  sacred  books  given  by  that 
author  :  “  In  the  beginning  of  the  opening  of  all  things,  a  chaos 
floated,  as  fishes  swim  in  the  water  for  pleasure :  out  of  this  chaos 
arose  a  thing  like  a  prickle,  movable  and  transformable.  This 
thing  became  a  soul  or  spirit,  and  this  spirit  is  called  Kunitoko 
Hatsuo  Mikotto.” 

The  numerous  sects  which  exist  in  Japan  seem  to  be  modifica¬ 
tions,  in  divers  degrees,  of  Buddhism  and  Sintooism.  Buddhism 
was  not  introduced  in  Japan  until  the  year  A.D.  552,  and,  after 
some  struggle  to  obtain  a  footing,  finally  took  root  about  the  end 
of  the  century,  and  became  gradually  infused  into  the  religion  of 
the  country.  After  all,  it  differed  in  no  great  degree  from  the 
existing  worship.  They  both  inculcated  a  high  moral  standard : 
purity  of  heart  and  life  was  the  great  feature  of  Sintooism ;  purity 
of  body  was  enforced  by  ceremonial  ordinances,  almost  Levitical 
in  their  character.  Certainly,  in  that  vague  condition  of  future 
bliss  which  the  Buddhist  looks  forward  to  in  Nirvana,  he  does 
not  approximate  to  the  Sintoo  notion  of  Paradise ;  but  then,  sup¬ 
posing  Siebold  to  be  correct,  he  escapes  the  infernal  regions  of  the 
latter  by  his  doctrine  of  Metempsychosis.  On  the  other  hand, 
Sintoo  priests  are  a  more  favored  race  than  those  of  Buddha ;  for 
marriage  is  permitted  them,  the  Mikado  setting  the  example. 


352 


THE  VALUE  OF  SINTOOISM. 


This  spiritual  functionary  dwells  theoretically  in  heaven,  but  he 
is  doubtless  occasionally  reminded  of  his  propinquity  to  this  vale 
of  tears  by  some  of  the  twelve  wives  to  which  by  law  he  is  entitled. 

Buddhist  priests  invariably  shave  the  head,  which  they  leave 
uncovered.  The  Sintoo  priesthood  allow  their  hair  to  grow,  and 
wear  a  remarkable  head-dress,  resembling  an  inverted  boat  lack¬ 
ered,  and  often  of  a  most  brilliant  color. 

In  addition  to  the  religions  of  Sinsyn  and  Buddha,  with  their 
various  shades  of  intermixture,  is  the  philosophic  creed  of  Sutoo, 
or  “  the  Way  of  Life,”  apparently  a  modification  of  Confucianism, 
which  is  here,  as  in  China,  sufficiently  “broad”  and  elastic  to  con¬ 
sist  with  any  form  of  superstition.  Properly  speaking,  it  recog¬ 
nizes  no  gods,  temples,  or  places  of  worship ;  acknowledges  a  uni¬ 
versal  pervading  spirit;  denies  any  future  state  of  rewards  and 
punishments,  holding  that  happiness  consists  in  a  righteous  life, 
and  that,  when  the  five  cardinal  virtues  are  practiced,  the  man  is 
perfect.  These  are,  to  live  virtuously,  to  do  right,  to  be  courteous, 
to  govern  wisely,  and  to  obey  the  conscience. 

We  may  assume  that  in  Japan,  as  in  all  countries  where  Bud¬ 
dhism  exists,  those  elevated  and  somewhat  mystic  tenets  which  are 
developed  in  its  sacred  books  commend  themselves  to  the  under¬ 
standings  of  the  more  enlightened  and  refined  classes  of  society ; 
while  the  humbler  portion  of  the  population  take  refuge  in  the 
idolatry  of  that  gross  material  form  which  can  alone  satisfy  their 
coarse,  sensuous  requirements.  It  seems  a  question  whether  the 
vulgar  mind  is  really  the  crucible  in  which  to  test  the  power  and 
value  of  a  theology ;  how  often  does  it  degrade  the  noblest  faith 
to  its  own  level,  and  the  hasty  observer  judges  the  religion  by  its 
coarsest  development !  If,  however,  we  are  to  consider  the  char¬ 
acter  of  the  Japanese  with  reference  to  their  religious  training 
alone,  Buddhism  is  certainly  not  the  religion  which  has  exercised 
the  most  favorable  influence  upon  their  minds  and  dispositions. 
Buddhism  is  said  to  be  the  religion  of  three  hundred  and  fifteen 
millions  of  the  human  race,  who  are  all  morally  and  intellectually 
inferior  to  the  Japanese.  If,  therefore,  we  ignore  all  physical 
causes,  and  those  theories  by  which  it  has  recently  been  sought 
to  account  for  civilization  and  social  progress,  and  reduce  it  to  a 
question  of  religion  alone,  we  are  forced  to  admit  that  the  Sintoo 
religion  has  produced  results  which  entitle  it  to  a  very  high  rank 
among  the  religions  of  the  world. 


A  VISIT  FROM  THE  GOVERNOR. 


353 


Having  arrived  at  which  conclusion,  we  descend  from  the  steps 
of  the  temple  of  Sinsyn,  upon  which  we  have  seated  ourselves 
while  speculating  upon  the  value  of  the  creed ;  and  the  sun  being 
by  this  time  concealed  behind  the  peaked  hills  of  the  valley,  we 
can  stroll  along  the  rice-fields  by  the  river’s  brink,  and  enjoy  the 
balmy  air  of  evening,  or  stop  in  answer  to  an  invitation,  and  in¬ 
dulge  in  delicious  tea  without  paying  for  it.  In  its  present  unso¬ 
phisticated  state,  Japan  is  a  cheap  as  well  as  a  pleasant  residence, 
foreign  coin  being  forbidden,  and  the  inhabitants  being  either 
very  conscientious,  or  very  much  afraid  of  being  reported  to  gov¬ 
ernment.  We  smoke  pipes,  drink  tea  in  delightful  summer¬ 
houses,  cross  ferries,  and  in  various  manners  incur  pecuniary  li¬ 
abilities  which  we  have  no  means  of  liquidating,  for  our  money  is 
resolutely  declined,  and  with  an  air  of  politeness  which  quite  makes 
us  regret  that  we  ever  made  the  tender ;  so  we  are  compelled  to 
reconcile  ourselves  to  our  fate,  and  by  an  interchange  of  tobacco 
endeavor  to  convey  a  reciprocity  of  cordial  sentiments. 

The  day  following  our  arrival  at  Simoda,  Lord  Elgin  received 
a  visit  from  the  governor.  He  had  learned  that  we  proposed  go¬ 
ing  up  the  Bay  of  Yedo,  and  his  object  now  was  to  exert  all  his 
powers  of  persuasion  to  induce  Lord  Elgin  to  forego  this  inten¬ 
tion.  He  brought  a  large  suite  on  board  with  him,  all  of  whom 
seemed  to  appreciate  an  English  luncheon.  I  was  rather  startled 
to  hear  one  of  them  refuse  Cura9oa,  and  ask  for  Maraschino  in¬ 
stead.  The  governor  himself  was  a  man  of  a  most  jovial  temper¬ 
ament.  He  indulged  in  constant  chuckles,  and  rather  reminded 
one  of  Mr.  Weller  senior.  He  seemed  to  consider  every  thing  a 
capital  joke — even  Lord  Elgin’s  positive  refusal  to  comply  with 
his  request  to  hand  over  the  yacht  at  Simoda  and  remain  at  that 
place.  He  used  every  possible  argument  to  carry  his  point,  but 
without  avail.  He  said  he  dreaded  the  consequences  to  himself, 
and  chuckled ;  still  more  did  he  dread  the  consequences  to  us,  and 
chuckled  again  ;  and  when  at  last  he  found  that  we  were  neither 
to  be  frightened  or  cajoled,  he  seemed  perfectly  contented,  and 
proceeded  to  wrap  up  in  square  pieces  of  paper  any  articles  of 
food  which  particularly  struck  his  fancy,  which  he  carried  in  the 
folds  of  his  shirt,  saying,  as  he  did  so,  that  he  had  a  number  of 
children  at  home  of  an  age  to  appreciate  the  culinary  curiosities 
of  foreign  parts.  Many  of  his  suite  seemed  to  have  families  also, 
for  they  followed  his  example.  I  rather  think  one  attempted  to 

Z 


354 


GENERAL  APPEARANCE  OF  SIMODA. 


carry  away  some  strawberry  jam  in  his  bosom,  or  in  the  sleeve  of 
his  coat,  which  was  made  full  and  baggy  for  the  purpose.  These 
square  pieces  of  paper  are  not  used  exclusively  for  wrapping  up 
food  in  ;  upon  them  inquisitive  Japanese  take  notes,  and  in  them 
they  blow  their  noses.  It  is  a  mark  of  politeness  to  carry  away  a 
quantity  of  food  from  a  dinner-table ;  so  much  so,  that  a  very  civil 
guest  sometimes  brings  a  servant  and  a  basket  to  carry  away 
those  remnants  which  a  good  English  housekeeper  would  appro¬ 
priate  to  luncheon  next  day.  This  is  a  somewhat  expensive  mode 
of  showing  approval  of  one’s  friend’s  dinner,  but  not  so  disagree¬ 
able  as  the  gradations  which  a  man  of  good-breeding  indulges  in 
with  the  same  object. 

The  governor  told  us  that  he  was  allowed  to  have  his  wife  with 
him  at  Simoda,  but  this,  as  we  understood,  was  only  because  his 
rank  was  not  sufficiently  high  to  bring  him  within  the  category 
of  those  obliged  to  leave  their  wives  at  Yedo.  There  are  two 
governors  of  Simoda,  who  relieve  each  other  every  six  months, 
the  object  being  that  each  should  serve  as  a  check  upon  his  col¬ 
league.  The  governor,  having  now  apparently  satisfied  his  con¬ 
science,  prepared  to  take  leave.  He  subsequently  preferred  a  re¬ 
quest  in  writing  that  two  Japanese  officials  should  be  allowed  a 
passage  in  the  Furious  up  the  harbor.  This,  however,  was  de¬ 
clined,  upon  the  plea  that  it  was  contrary  to  the  rules  of  the  serv¬ 
ice  to  take  on  board  passengers. 

Under  the  new  treaty  Kanagawa  is  substituted  for  Simoda, 
which  ceases  to  be  an  open  port.  It  is  indeed  valueless  as  such  : 
the  harbor  is  unsafe,  the  population  is  small  and  of  the  poorest 
description,  consisting  chiefly  of  fishermen.  The  means  of  com¬ 
munication  with  the  interior  are  bad,  as  the  town  is  situated  on  a 
peninsula,  to  pass  from  which  into  the  country  it  is  necessary  to 
cross  a  mountain  range  about  six  thousand  feet  in  height. 

The  houses  are  all  built  of  wood,  many  of  them  only  of  one 
story.  The  shops  are  poor  and  thinly  supplied.  Here,  as  at  Na¬ 
gasaki,  the  poorer  classes  are  but  lightly  clad,  the  men  having  lit¬ 
tle  on  besides  a  loin-cloth,  and  the  women  being  generally  uncov¬ 
ered  above  the  waist.  They  manifested  but  little  curiosity  at  us 
as  we  strolled  about  the  streets,  but  I  was  amused  to  observe  a 
crowd  collected  round  a  dog  belonging  to  one  of  our  party,  of  the 
Shantung  terrier  breed,  and  which,  though  a  purely  Chinese  dog, 
is  scarcely  to  be  distinguished  from  a  Skye  terrier.  This  long- 


VOYAGE  UP  THE  BAY  OE  YEDO. 


355 


haired  specimen  of  the  canine  race  created  immense  excitement 
and  interest,  both  among  Japanese  dogs  and  men,  as  he  trotted 
complacently  along  the  streets  of  Simoda. 

W e  experienced  great  civility  and  kindness  from  Mr.  Harris 
during  our  short  stay  at  Simoda,  but  were  more  especially  indebt¬ 
ed  to  him  for  the  liberality  with  which  he  supplied  a  most  import¬ 
ant  deficiency,  in  placing  at  Lord  Elgin’s  disposal  the  services  of 
his  excellent  Dutch  interpreter,  Mr.  Hewsken.  This  gentleman 
proved,  during  our  stay  at  Yedo,  a  very  obliging  and  agreeable 
companion,  as  well  as  a  most  able  assistant.  Having  spent  two 
years  in  the  country,  he  had  picked  up  a  good  deal  of  the  lan¬ 
guage,  and  I  am  indebted  to  him  for  much  interesting  information. 
In  all  official  transactions  a  Japanese  interpreter  was  employed  to 
interpret  from  Dutch  into  Japanese. 

We  got  under  weigh  from  Simoda  at  daylight  on  the  morning 
of  the  12th  of  August,  and  with  a  fair  wind  proceeded  rapidly  up 
the  bay,  passing  on  our  left  a  mountain  range  of  about  6000  feet 
in  height.  The  shores  now  begin  to  close  in,  and  at  the  Straits  of 
ITraga,  which  we  reached  in  about  five  hours  from  Simoda,  they 
are  not  above  ten  miles  apart.  At  this  point  the  scenery  was  very 


A  Japanese  Village  (from  a  native  drawing). 


356 


KANAGAWA. 


pretty ;  wooded  hills  rise  from  the  water’s  edge,  sloping  gently 
back,  here  and  there  deeply  furrowed  with  a  charming  glen,  in 
which  cottages  with  steep-thatched  roofs  and  overhanging  eaves 
are  snugly  ensconced.  The  western  shore  resembles  some  parts 
of  the  coast  of  the  Isle  of  Wight.  The  town  of  Uraga  itself  is  the 
most  important-looking  place  on  the  coast.  It  is  considered  a  sort 
of  barrier  to  Yedo,  and  even  country  craft  should  stop  here  to  give 
an  account  of  themselves.  Two  boat-loads  of  two-sworded  officials 
pushed  off  in  haste  as  we  steamed  up,  and  by  gesticulations  and 
gestures  of  entreaty  invited  us  to  stop  ;  but  we  passed  on,  utterly 
indifferent  to  their  signals ;  and  as  we  left  them  far  behind,  we 
could  still  discern  them  tugging  hopelessly  after  us,  in  the  vain 
attempt  to  overtake  a  steamer  of  400  horse-power  going  at  full 
speed. 

We  could  scarcely  believe  our  eyes  when,  at  anchor,  the  same 
night,  we  observed  these  identical  boats  pull  alongside,  they  hav¬ 
ing  never  relinquished  the  pursuit. 

Meantime  we  steamed  steadily  on  through  waters  traversed  for 
the  first  time  by  Commodore  Perry’s  squadron  a  few  years  ago, 
and  consequently  but  little  surveyed.  Passing  the  Perry  and 
Webster  islands,  prettily  wooded,  and  of  a  picturesque  form,  we 
came  within  sight  of  the  Russian  squadron,  anchored  at  Kanaga- 
wa,  at  about  midday.  This  place  is  situated  at  a  distance  of 
eighteen  miles  from  Yedo.  It  affords  good  anchorage  about  half 
a  mile  from  the  shore ;  it  is  a  town  of  considerable  importance, 
and  has  been  selected  as  one  of  the  new  ports.  Count  Poutia- 
tine,  who  had  proceeded  to  Japan  direct  from  the  Gulf  of  Peche- 
lee,  had  arrived  here  about  a  fortnight  previously,  and  been  en¬ 
gaged  during  that  period  in  making  arrangements  for  his  proper 
reception  at  the  capital.  Lord  Elgin,  however,  instead  of  stop¬ 
ping  at  Kanagawa,  determined  to  adopt  the  unprecedented  course 
of  sailing  straight  up  to  the  capital,  believing  that,  if  the  achieve¬ 
ment  were  feasible,  it  would  not  only  save  valuable  time,  but  that 
the  presence  of  our  ships  there  would  produce  a  most  salutary 
effect  upon  the  government,  and  in  all  probability  tend  to  facili¬ 
tate  our  negotiations.  It  was  eminently  fortunate  that  on  occa¬ 
sions  of  this  sort  he  had  in  Captain  Sherard  Osborn  a  commander 
upon  whose  zeal  and  professional  skill  he  could  always  place  the 
most  perfect  reliance. 

Our  unexpected  appearance  must  have  somewhat  astonished 


APPROACH  TO  YEDO. 


357 


our  Muscovite  friends,  more  especially  as  we  passed  on  at  full 
speed  up  the  bay,  where  no  Western  ship  had  ever  before  ven¬ 
tured.  Up  to  this  point,  the  western  shore  under  which  we  had 
been  coasting  was  uniformly  high,  and  broken  with  projecting 
promontories ;  now,  however,  it  sank  to  a  level  with  the  waters 
of  the  bay.  The  soundings  in  Perry’s  chart  cease  just  before 
reaching  Kawasaki  Point — a  long  sandy  spit  which  runs  far  out 
into  the  bay,  and  off  which  the  Japanese  have  placed  a  beacon. 

The  water  now  became  shallow,  and  the  channel  somewhat  in¬ 
tricate.  We  were  just  doubting  whether  the  undertaking  was 
practicable,  when  we  saw  in  the  distance  some  large  square-rigged 
ships,  of  a  tonnage  which  satisfied  us  that  their  anchorage  would 
do  for  us  ;  but  for  a  moment  we  felt  bitterly  disappointed  at  the 
discovery  of  European-built  ships,  betokening,  as  we  supposed, 
the  presence  of  some  foreign  flag  more  enterprising  than  our  own . 
It  was  only  when  we  approached  nearer  that  we  perceived  that 
these  Western-looking  craft  were  in  reality  Japanese,  and  ob¬ 
served  the  white  flag  with  the  red  ball  floating  from  the  peak  of 
a  dapper  little  steamer,  and  marking  it  “  Imperial.” 

Gradually  behind  these  vessels  the  island  forts,  and  then  the 
houses  of  the  city  of  Yedo,  rose  into  view.  Gently,  with  two 
leads  going,  we  crept  up  to  the  long-desired  haven,  closely  follow¬ 
ed  by  the  Retribution  and  yacht;  and  by  two  o’clock  the  same 
afternoon,  after  a  most  prosperous  passage  from  Simoda,  we  an¬ 
chored  not  far  from  the  Japanese  fleet,  at  a  distance  of  about 
three  miles  from  the  shore,  and  five  from  the  capital  of  the  em¬ 
pire. 


858 


OFFICIAL  VISITORS. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

Official  Visitors. — We  shift  our  Anchorage. — A  Visit  from  Princes. — Object  of  the 
Interview. — A  Japanese  Man-of-war. — Visit  to  the  Admiral. — Japanese  Junks. — 
Imperial  Uniform. — Inquisitive  Water-parties. — Moriyama. — Visit  of  the  Com¬ 
missioners. —  Landing-parties. —  The  Landing-place. — A  Japanese  Saddle. — The 
Procession  through  Yedo. — Excited  Crowds. — The  fair  Sex. — Disfigurement  of 
married  Women. — Japanese  Pleasure-parties. — Arrival  at  our  future  Residence. 

We  had  not  been  long  at  anchor  before  we  were  boarded  by 
those  ever-vigilant  and  active  two-sworded  gentry,  who  seem  to 
swarm  upon  the  shores  of  Japan,  and  who  ponnce  upon  the 
stranger  as  if  he  was  their  peculiar  property.  They  always  come 
tumbling  up  the  ladder  full  of  smiles  and  impetuosity,  not  the 
least  afraid  of  boarding  the  foreign  ship ;  then  they  bow  and  look 
amiable,  and  talk  with  excessive  volubility  in  Dutch  and  Japan¬ 
ese,  jerking  out  now  and  then  a  word  of  English.  They  want  to 
know  who  we  are,  how  many  guns  we  mount,  how  many  men  there 
are  on  board,  what  our  object  is  in  coming,  whether  more  ships 
are  following.  Suddenly  they  recognize  Mr.  Hewsken ;  he  is  an 
old  friend,  and  there  is  Mr.  Harris’s  palanquin  (he  had  kindly  lent 
it  to  Lord  Elgin).  Our  visitors  are  much  puzzled.  It  is  evident 
Mr.  Harris  is  secreted  somewhere  on  board,  or  else  how  comes  it 
that  here  are  both  his  secretary  and  his  palanquin  ?  But  then 
Mr. Harris  sails  under  the  “stars  and  stripes,”  and  the  Japanese 
know  that  the  flag  waving  above  them  is  the  British  ensign. 
They  bombard  Mr.  Hewsken  with  questions,  which  they  do  not 
give  him  time  to  answer,  and,  at  all  events,  are  perfectly  clear 
upon  one  point — whether  Mr.  Harris  is  on  board  or  not,  we  must 
instantly  return  to  Kanagawa.  We  explain  that  the  British  min¬ 
ister  is  on  board,  though  not  visible  to  their  vulgar  gaze,  and  that 
we  can  not  venture  to  broach  such  a  proposition  to  him.  Mean¬ 
time  more  official  boats  arrive,  and  we  learn  that  Count  Poutia- 
tine  has  that  day  arrived  from  Kanagawa,  and  made  his  official 
entry  by  land  into  Yedo,  where  he  has  taken  up  his  residence. 
It  was  evident  that  none  of  our  visitors  were  men  of  rank ;  they 
came  rather  with  the  view  of  collecting  information  than  as  offi¬ 
cial  messengers;  but  the  burden  of  the  song  always  was,  “Go 


A  VISIT  FROM  PRINCES. 


859 


back  to  Kanagawa.”  Lord  Elgin  sent  a  letter  on  slrore  the  same 
afternoon  to  tire  prime  minister,  stating  that  he  had  come  to  make 
a  treaty,  and  to  present  the  yacht  to  the  emperor,  and  requesting 
that  he  might  be  furnished  with  a  suitable  residence  on  shore. 

On  the  following  morning,  finding  by  our  boats  that  we  could 
get  nearer  the  shore,  we  ran  on  into  three-fathom  water,  and  an¬ 
chored  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  it,  and  in  the  midst  of  the 
Japanese  fleet.  This  consisted  of  two  large,  square-rigged  ships, 
a  pretty  little  paddle-wheel  steamer,  which  had  been  purchased 
from  the  Dutch  government,  and  a  three-masted  schooner.  From 
our  present  anchorage  we  could  follow  the  houses  of  the  city 
lining  the  shores  of  the  bay  from  the  suburb  of  Sinagawa,  off 
which  we  were  lying,  to  a  long  bridge  just  visible  in  the  extreme 
distance.  This  view  was  intercepted  by  five  island  forts,  which 
rose  from  the  shallow  waters  of  the  bay  about  half  way  between 
ns  and  the  centre  of  the  city.  Low  hills  prettily  wooded,  and 
crowned  with  temples,  formed  a  background  to  Sinagawa  and  the 
western  portion  of  the  city,  while  a  wooded  eminence  in  the  cen¬ 
tre,  gleaming  here  and  there  with  a  patch  of  white  wall,  and  dis¬ 
tinguished  by  the  roofs  of  a  pagoda,  marked  the  citadel,  or  resi¬ 
dence  of  the  Tycoon. 

Towering  over  all  in  the  western  distance,  but  too  often  con¬ 
cealed  by  clouds,  the  majestic  Fusi-yama  reared  its  conical  sum¬ 
mit.  The  princes  came  off  to  luncheon  about  midday,  bringing 
with  them  an  answer  to  the  letter  of  yesterday.  These  dignitaries 
are  only  Saimios,  or  titular  princes,  and  are  of  an  inferior  rank  to 
the  Daimios,  or  hereditary  princes.  One  of  them,  Sinanono-kami, 
was  the  alternate  Governor  of  Simoda,  the  colleague  of  our  jovial 
friend  of  yesterday.  They  were  plainly  dressed,  and  accompanied 
by  the  usual  retinue,  the  use  of  which  we  now  began  to  perceive. 
Most  of  them  were  engaged  during  the  whole  period  of  their  in¬ 
terview  with  Lord  Elgin  in  reporting  in  note-books  precisely 
every  word  that  passed.  I  even  caught  one  fellov^  as  I  glanced 
over  his  shoulder,  making  a  sketch  of  his  excellency. 

When  no  conversation  was  actually  taking  place,  they  noted 
down  observations  of  surrounding  objects.  Most  inquisitive  were 
they  in  their  inquiries  about  every  thing,  and  ready  in  booking 
the  answer.  The  people  who  had  no  note-books  were  spies,  whose 
business  it  was  to  see  whether  those  who  had  did  their  duty  prop¬ 
erly;  also  to  keep  an  eye  on  the  princes,  and  report  any  indis- 


360 


OBJECT  OF  THE  INTERVIEW. 


cretion  of  whicli  they  might  be  guilty.  So,  when  every  body  was 
watching  every  body  else,  it  was  only  natural  that  the  Japanese 
should  wonder  who  was  watching  us.  They  solved  this  difficulty 
in  an  amusing  way.  Finding  that  there  was  only  one  British 
minister  on  board,  but  observing  also  that  his  letter  had  been 
signed  Elgin  and  Kincardine,  they  gave  us  to  understand,  in  the 
least  offensive  way  possible,  that  Kincardine,  who  was  nowhere 
visible,  they  supposed  to  be  engaged  in  keeping  his  eye  on  Elgin. 
It  was  some  time  before  we  made  them  understand  how  two  titles 
could  be  vested  in  one  and  the  same  person. 

Meantime  they  did  not  forget  the  main  object  of  their  visit: 
this  was  to  endeavor  to  persuade  Lord  Elgin  to  return  to  Kana- 
gawa,  at  which  point,  they  assured  us,  arrangements  could  much 
more  easily  be  made  for  his  reception  at  Yedo.  This  was  by  no 
means  evident.  Lord  Elgin  objected  that  going  eighteen  miles 
farther  could  not  facilitate  his  coming  to  the  capital ;  then  they 
said  that  the  anchorage  was  very  dangerous.  They  were  recoim 
mended,  in  that  case,  to  remove  their  own  fleet  to  a  place  of  greater 
safety.  Farther,  they  urged  it  would  be  impossible  to  send  sup¬ 
plies  to  the  ship ;  but  they  were  assured  that  we  were  quite  inde. 
pendent,  having  a  sufficient  stock  of  supplies  on  board.  In  fact, 
each  prince  severally  made  a  remonstrance,  doubtless  for  the  ben¬ 
efit  of  his  spy ;  and  when  they  had  fulfilled  this  duty,  they  re¬ 
ceived  with  smiles  Lord  Elgin’s  assurance  that  any  movement 
from  his  present  anchorage  was  impossible  until  he  had  fulfilled 
the  object  of  his  visit,  and  handed  over  the  yacht  to  the  imperial 
government.  This  decision,  they  said,  they  would  report  to  their 
superiors,  and  for  the  remainder  of  their  visit  they  devoted  them¬ 
selves  to  pate  de  fois  gras  and  Champagne.  They  ultimately  de¬ 
parted,  promising  to  return  with  an  answer  on  the  morrow.  The 
next  day,  however,  was  so  wet  that  we  could  hardly  blame  them 
for  not  braving  the  elements;  and,  to  relieve  the  monotony,  a 
party  of  us  went  on  a  voyage  of  exploration  to  the  largest  ship 
in  the  fleet,  and  then  on  to  the  forts. 

Both  the  square-rigged  ships  looked  like  those  cumbrous  arks 
in  which  our  ancestors  used  to  circumnavigate  the  globe,  and 
were,  in  fact,  built  upon  old  Butch  models,  although  of  recent 
construction.  The  one  we  boarded  was  painted  a  bright  red; 
her  masts  were  of  ponderous  size,  built  and  ribbed  with  iron 
hoops ;  the  rigging  bleached  white,  and  ragged  from  the  action 


' 


* 


nf  ^jpN1 


Yedo  Forts. 


VISIT  TO  THE  ADMIRAL. 


363 


of  the  weather  and  the  absence  of  tar.  We  ascended  the  heavy 
ladder  to  a  large  square  hole,  which  admitted  us  to  the  main  deck. 
We  were  most  civilly  received  by  an  individual  who  may  be  sup¬ 
posed  to  have  been  the  officer  of  the  watch,  and  shown  over  the 
ship.  Two  or  three  32 -pound  Paixhan  guns  were  lying  about, 
but  there  was  not  a  vestige  of  a  carriage,  or  any  bolts  for  side- 
tackles.  The  scantling  was  of  enormous  thickness,  and  the  port¬ 
holes  were  closed  with  clumsily-built  shutters.  There  was  an 
appearance  of  comfort,  nevertheless,  about  the  main  deck  gener¬ 
ally,  which  was  inhabited  by  the  crew,  whose  mats  were  all  neat¬ 
ly  arranged  round  it.  The  lower  deck  was  empty,  with  the  ex¬ 
ception  of  a  few  stores  and  water-casks. 

Under  a  high  poop  astern  was  the  captain’s  cabin.  We  entered 
it,  and  found  two  or  three  naval  dignitaries  squatted  upon  the 
floor  drinking  tea;  one  of  these  we  afterward  discovered  to  be 
the  admiral-in-chief  of  the  imperial  navy.  He  was  appointed  one 
of  the  commissioners  to  treat  with  Lord  Elgin,  and  proved  to  be 
a  most  intelligent  person.  We  had  no  idea  that  the  plain -looking 
group  before  us  contained  so  important  a  personage ;  and,  in  an¬ 
swer  to  a  polite  invitation  to  join  their  party,  we  twisted  our  legs 
under  us,  received  from  them  pipes  containing  homoeopathic  doses 
of  tobacco  in  exchange  for  our  cigars,  and  refreshed  ourselves 
with  some  delicious  tea.  Unfortunately,  we  were  compelled  to 
confine  our  observations  to  smacking  our  lips  and  puffing  out 
smoke,  for  we  were  without  an  interpreter.  We  did,  indeed,  ul¬ 
timately,  by  the  exercise  of  great  intelligence  on  both  sides,  get 
so  far  as  to  learn  the  Japanese  numerals  up  to  ten,  and  teach  them 
the  English ;  but  the  intellectual  effort  was  too  great  to  be  sus¬ 
tained  ;  and  we  parted  with  feelings  of  mutual  relief,  and  the 
warmest  expressions  of  good-will,  as  conveyed  in  our  mother 
tongue.  The  cabin  in  which  we  had  been  entertained  was  devoid 
of  furniture,  as  rooms  in  Japan  always  are ;  but  the  mats  were 
soft,  and  there  was  an  air  of  comfort  and  cleanliness  about  the 
apartment.  It  was  built  apparently  of  fir-wood,  the  carpentering 
of  perfect  workmanship. 

We  now  made  for  the  left-hand  point  of  the  left-hand  fort,  tak¬ 
ing  advantage  of  the  opportunity  to  sound  as  we  sailed  slowly 
along.  We  found  the  forts  constructed  of  huge  blocks  of  stone, 
surmounted  by  guns  of  large  calibre,  and  staked  round  with  piles. 
Considerable  knowledge  of  fortification  has  been  displayed  both 


864 


JAPANESE  JUNKS. 


in  their  construction  and  situation.  They  extend  in  a  parallel 
line  with  the  coast  for  some  distance.  Between  some  of  them  the 
water  is  so  shallow  as  not  even  to  admit  of  the  passage  of  boats ; 
between  the  two  westernmost,  however,  it  is  comparatively  deep. 
We  were  in  the  deepest  channel,  to  judge  from  the  size  of  the  na¬ 
tive  craft  which  chose  it,  and  found  at  half  flood  eight  feet  of  wa¬ 
ter  at  our  farthest  sounding.  At  this  point  numbers  of  junks 
were  anchored,  and  some  small  schooners  built  from  European 
models.  The  largest  of  these  junks  may  have  been  of  150  tons 
burden,  high-sterned,  heavily-masted,  quaint-looking  craft;  the 
masts  are  not  composed  of  a  single  spar,  but  built  and  ribbed  with 
iron,  rising  from  the  deck  like  some  gigantic  forest-tree  to  a  height 
of  forty  or  fifty  feet :  the  top  of  the  mast  was  slightly  bent,  and 
from  it  depended  a  vast  expanse  of  a  coarse  cotton  fabric,  attach¬ 
ed  to  a  yard  on  the  same  scale  as  the  mast,  so  massive,  that  to 
hoist  it  must  be  as  laborious  an  operation  as  weighing  anchor. 
The  rudder  projects  far  astern,  and  is  moved  by  a  huge  tiller  ex- 


A  Junk  in  the  Bay  of  Yedo  (from  a  native  drawing). 

tending  half  the  length  of  the  craft.  An  extensive  assortment  of 
anchors  garnish  the  bow,  and  on  deck  there  is  frequently  a  thatch¬ 
ed  shed  for  the  crew.  Altogether  the  rig  is  clumsy  to  the  nautic¬ 
al  eye;  but  we  met  several  of  their  junks  making  good  weather 
of  it  when  it  was  blowing  freshly.  It  is  said,  however,  that  a  gov- 


IMPERIAL  UNIFORM.— INQUISITIVE  WATER-PARTIES.  365 


ernment  rule  exists,  compelling  tliem  to  be  built  on  a  principle 
which,  renders  it  dangerous  for  them  to  venture  far  from  shore,  so 
as  to  prevent  their  visiting  foreign  countries.  The  annexed  Jap¬ 
anese  drawing  conveys  a  very  good  idea  of  a  scene  in  the  Bay  of 
Yedo,  with  Fusi-yama  in  the  distance. 

On  our  return  to  the  ship  we  found  a  message  had  arrived  apol¬ 
ogizing  for  the  non-appearance  of  the  commissioners,  and  inclosing 
a  copy  of  the  American  treaty.  We  were  always  able  to  recog¬ 
nize  government  messengers  from  afar.  Generally  they  came  in 
a  boat  painted  red,  about  the  size  of  a  pinnace,  and  rigged  with 
two  lug-sails.  The  crews  were  always  in  uniform— either  in  blue 
or  black,  with  white  stripes.  Black  and  white  are  the  imperial 
colors,  but  the  national  flag  is  a  red  ball  on  a  white  ground.  The 
Japanese  seem  to  hold  the  sun  in  almost  as  great  respect  as  the 
Parsees.  Their  patron  divinity,  Ten-sio-dai-zin,  is  the  sun-god¬ 
dess,  and  they  have  adopted  the  luminary  as  their  national  em¬ 
blem. 

While  the  costume  of  the  government  boatmen  was  uniform 
and  respectable,  the  same  can  not  be  said  of  the  crews  of  the  nu¬ 
merous  other  boats  which  used  constantly  to  surround  us.  A 
pocket-handkerchief  would  have  supplied  material  for  a  full  suit ; 
but  even  then  it  must  be  torn  in  half,  and  while  one  piece  crosses 
the  loins,  the  other  is  drawn  tightly  over  the  nose.  It  is  not,  as 
may  be  supposed,  from  any  feeling  of  modesty  that  this  feature  is 
concealed :  the  idea  is,  that  it  is  sensitive  to  cold ;  but  the  general 
effect  of  a  man  with  nothing  on  but  two  scanty  strips  of  cotton — 
one  round  the  middle  of  his  body,  and  the  other  round  the  mid¬ 
dle  of  his  face — is  in  the  highest  degree  ludicrous. 

In  the  afternoon,  pleasure  parties  from  the  shore  used  to  come 
and  inspect  us ;  boat-loads  of  ladies,  with  a  great  deal  of  white 
powder  on  their  cheeks,  and  lips  painted  a  brilliant  vermilion, 
gazed  on  us  with  the  utmost  interest  and  delight,  making  witty 
remarks  at  our  expense,  and  then  laughing  immoderately.  Some 
of  the  gentlemen  ventured  on  board,  and  one  of  them  mistook  Lord 
Elgin’s  Chinese  chair  for  a  shrine,  and,  being  evidently  of  a  toler¬ 
ant  and  liberal  spirit  in  religious  matters,  did  us  the  honor  of  pros¬ 
trating  himself  before  what  he  supposed  was  one  of  our  divinities ; 
but  his  fair  companions  contented  themselves  with  gyrating  round 
us,  and  looking  in  at  our  port-holes  with  that  curiosity  which 
doubtless  characterizes  the  sex  even  here.  We  had  not  much  op- 


366 


MORI  YAM  A. 


portunity  of  judging  of  the  extent  to  which  this  propensity  is  in¬ 
dulged;  but,  considering  that  the  most  inquisitive  men  in  the 
world  are  certainly  Japanese  men,  it  is  difficult  to  form  a  concep¬ 
tion  of  what  the  women  must  be. 

On  the  following  day  five  commissioners  came  off  to  complete 
the  arrangements  for  our  taking  up  our  residence  on  shore.  In 
addition  to  the  three  whom  we  had  already  seen  was  our  naval 
friend  of  yesterday,  Admiral  Nangai  Grembano-kami,  and  a  cheer¬ 
ful  colleague,  by  name  Higono-kami,  who  turned  out  the  most 
agreeable  and  intelligent  person  I  met  in  Japan.  These  gentle¬ 
men  were  accompanied  by  an  individual  who  played  a  very  im¬ 
portant  part  throughout  the  negotiations,  and  whose  real  value 
was  indeed  very  little  below  his  own  very  high  estimate  of  it.  He 
was  the  interpreter  Moriyama,  for  some  time  resident  at  Nagasaki ; 
he  wrote  and  spoke  Dutch  with  almost  as  much  facility  as  Japa¬ 
nese,  and  was  the  means  of  communication  between  Mr.  Hewsken 
and  the  commissioners. 

Beneath  a  ludicrous  affectation  of  manner  Moriyama  concealed 
an  infinite  amount  of  practical,  shrewd  common  sense.  He  was, 
in  fact,  a  diplomate  of  the  Talleyrand  school,  always  silky  and 
smiling,  anxious  to  impress  upon  you  that  he  was  a  mere  humble 
interpreter,  while  through  his  bland  diffidence  it  was  easy  to  dis¬ 
tinguish  a  latent  ambition  to  have  every  thing  his  own  way,  and  a 
perfect  confidence  in  his  own  powers.  When  we  jokingly  called 
him  a  humbug,  and  tried  to  explain  to  him  the  meaning  of  the 
term,  he  evidently  regarded  it  as  a  compliment,  while  he  depre¬ 
cated  it  in  his  usual  air  of  insinuating  self-satisfaction. 

I  was  fortunate  enough  to  sit  next  Higono-kami  at  lunch,  and 
we  employed  ourselves  in  making  a  vocabulary  on  his  fan. 
Though  he  had  never  seen  a  foreigner,  until  within  the  last  few 
months,  in  his  life,  he  could  write  in  the  English  character,  and  was 
very  quick  in  picking  up  and  retaining  the  correct  pronunciation 
of  every  vowel  I  told  him.  He  informed  me  that  he  was  qualify¬ 
ing  himself  to  be  appointed  one  of  the  embassadors  to  be  sent  to 
Europe,  and  anxious,  in  consequence,  to  lose  no  opportunity  of 
learning  English.  I  saw  him  almost  every  day  during  the  remain¬ 
der  of  my  stay  in  Yedo,  and  he  generally  used  to  repeat  without  a 
mistake  the  lesson  of  the  day  before.  He  was  infinitely  more  in¬ 
terested  in  studying  English  than  in  watching  the  progress  of  the 
negotiations,  and  carried  perpetually  about  in  his  bosom  a  stock 


% 


LANDING-PARTIES. 


367 


of  fans,  which  contained  his  vocabulary.  At  luncheon,  however, 
he  generally  contrived  to  combine  duty  with  inclination,  and  hav¬ 
ing  carefully  noted  the  name  of  each  dish,  forthwith  proceeded  to 
partake  of  it. 

Our  guests  informed  us  that  a  choice  of  two  houses  was  at  our 
disposal,  but  that  they  regretted  that  the  emperor’s  illness  would 
prevent  his  giving  Lord  Elgin  the  audience  he  desired.  In  the 
mean  time,  it  was  arranged  that  some  of  our  party  should  go  on 
shore  to  examine  our  future  abode.  After  luncheon  the  admiral 
went  over  the  ship,  inspecting  her  thoroughly,  when  he  took  oc¬ 
casion  to  discuss  the  merits  of  oscillating  cylinders,  and  show  him¬ 
self  well  versed  in  machinery. 

Upon  our  visitors  taking  their  departure,  the  humbler  members 
of  their  retinue,  who  were  all  ranged  upon  the  deck,  prostrated 
themselves  as  their  lords  and  kamis  passed. 

In  consequence  of  the  unfavorable  state  of  the  weather,  our 
landing  was  postponed  until  the  17th  of  August.  On  the  morn¬ 
ing  of  that  day  great  preparations  were  made,  in  order  that  the 
event  might  take  place  with  due  eclat.  It  had  been  arranged 
that  some  Japanese  officials  should  come  off  to  accompany  his 
excellency  on  shore.  They  were  evidently  under  the  impression 
that  we  were  going  to  land  in  their  boats,  and  were  not  a  little 
startled  to  find  themselves  on  board  the  Lee,  in  company  with 
the  greater  part  of  the  officers  of  the  squadron,  all  in  full  dress, 
and  with  thirteen  ships’  boats  in  tow,  looking  spruce  and  gay, 
with  their  neat  crews,  and  ensigns  flying.  The  Retribution, 
Furious,  and  yacht  were  all  dressed  out;  and  as  the  little  Lee 
steamed  boldly  on  past  the  forts,  and  threaded  her  way  among 
the  junks  beyond,  the  faces  of  our  Japanese  friends  elongated 
at  finding  our  entire  indifference  to  shallow  water  and  sand¬ 
banks. 

At  last  soundings  in  seven  feet  reminded  us  that  even  the  Lee 
had  a  bottom,  and  we  dropped  anchor  and  got  into  our  boats.  As 
we  did  so  the  ships  thundered  forth  a  salute,  the  band  of  the  Ret¬ 
ribution,  in  a  paddle-box  boat,  struck  up  “Rule,  Britannia,”  the 
rest  of  the  boats  formed  in  procession,  Lord  Elgin’s  barge  in  the 
centre  between  four  paddle-box  boats,  each  with  a  brass  gun  in 
the  bow,  and  in  this  order  we  pulled  along  the  shore  for  about 
three  miles,  a  spectacle  such  as  Japanese  eyes  had  never  before 
witnessed,  and  the  novelty  of  which  induced  numerous  boats  to 


368 


TIIE  LANDING-EL  ACE. 


push  off  and  take  a  nearer  view  of  us  as  we  moved  steadily  and 
rapidly  along.  The  landing-place  was  about  the  centre  of  the 
city,  which  is  here  protected  along  the  sea-face  by  green  batteries : 
the  grassy  slopes,  dotted  with  handsome  trees,  would  rather  lead 
us  to  suppose  that  we  were  approaching  a  park  than  the  most 
populous  part  of  a  densely-crowded  city.  We  turned  off  from 
the  waters  of  the  bay  into  a  little  creek,  spanned  by  a  bridge.  So 
shallow,  however,  was  the  water,  that  we  had  some  difficulty  in 


The  Landing-place,  Yedo. 


forcing  even  the  smaller  boats  to  the  foot  of  the  stairs ;  we  were 
consoled  for  the  inconvenience  by  being  informed  that  this  was 
the  landing-place  reserved  for  the  exclusive  use  of  the  highest 
officers  of  state. 

At  this  point  there  was  comparatively  no  crowd,  the  batteries 
being  inclosed,  and  not  open  to  the  general  public.  Had  the  Jap¬ 
anese  been  as  civilized  as  we  are,  they  would  have  admitted  a  se¬ 
lect  few  with  tickets,  to  obtain  which  it  would  have  been  neces¬ 
sary  to  make  immense  interest  with  our  friend  Admiral  Nangai 
Grembano-kami.  As  it  was,  all  who  were  there  seemed  in  some 
way  officially  connected  with  the  day’s  proceedings.  We  were 
supplied  with  tea  while  the  norimons  and  horses  were  getting 
ready.  Norimons  are  the  palanquins  of  Japan ;  they  differ,  how¬ 
ever,  from  the  ordinary  palanquin  in  being  square  instead  of  ob- 


A  JAPANESE  SADDLE. 


369 


long,  so  that  a  reclining  posture  is  impossible.  The  occupant  sits 
cross-legged,  and  is  very  near  the  ground,  the  pole  on  which  the 
norimon  is  supported  passing  over  the  roof.  Four  men  carry  this 
somewhat  uncomfortable  contrivance,  which  is  by  no  means  well 
adapted  to  the  stranger  desirous  of  looking  about  him ;  under 
these  circumstances,  I  always  avoided  a  norimon  when  it  was 
possible  to  get  a  horse.  Upon  this  occasion  we  had  our  choice; 
they  were  all  standing  outside  the  gate,  where  an  immense  crowd 
was  already  collected. 

I  soon  found  myself  upon  a  fiery  galloway,  perched  on  a  very 
hard  saddle,  my  feet  in  stirrups  almost  big  enough  to  go  to  sea  in, 
and  something  between  a  catamaran  and  a  Turkish  slipper  in 
shape.  They  are  pointed  at  one  end  so  as  to  serve  the  purpose 
of  a  spur ;  and  if  the  horse  is  fresh,  the  great  business  of  life  is  to 
keep  the  stirrup  from  touching  him;  but  it  is  impossible  to  de¬ 
vote  one’s  whole  attention  to  this ;  for,  as  the  stirrup-leathers  are 
full  of  knots,  and  the  saddle  full  of  knobs,  and  most  of  us  have 
left  China  martyrs  to  that  scourge  of  the  country,  boils — our  minds 
are  fully  occupied  with  a  variety  of  weighty  considerations.  Still 
I  found  time  to  observe  that  my  horse’s  tail  was  carefully  tied  up 
in  a  long  bag  which  almost  reached  the  ground ;  that  his  feet  were 
swaddled  in  straw  shoes,  an  abundant  supply  of  which  I  carried 


A  Japanese  Horse-shoe  and  Saddle. 


hanging  under  my  stirrups.  These  were  carefully  fastened  on 
with  lashings  of  twisted  straw,  and  whenever  one  shoe  was  worn 
out  or  kicked  off,  another  was  immediately  tied  on ;  hence  arises 

the  custom  in  Japan  of  measuring  distances  by  horses’  shoes. 

A  A 


370 


THE  PROCESSION  THROUGH  YEDO. 


Here  you  ask  in  how  many  horse-shoes  will  I  reach,  the  residence 
of  the  spiritual  emperor?  which,  after  all,  does  not  differ  very 
much  from  the  old  problem  of  how  many  cows’  tails  will  reach 
the  moon. 

Fortunately,  each  horse  was  attended  by  two  grooms,  it  being 
a  great  point  with  a  J apanese  that  the  public  should  suppose  him 
riding  an  animal  so  spirited  that  the  combined  exertions  of  two 
men  are  scarcely  sufficient  to  restrain  his  ardor.  These  men  tug¬ 
ged  incessantly  at  the  mouth  of  my  poor  steed,  shouting  to  him 
constantly  “Chai,  chai,”  which  means  “Gently,  gently,”  and  mak¬ 
ing  an  immense  fuss  whenever  we  came  to  a  gutter;  but  I  was 
too  glad  to  be  relieved  of  the  responsibility  of  guiding  him  to  in¬ 
terfere,  and  the  muslin  reins  hung  listlessly  between  my  fingers. 

Meantime  the  procession  was  formed,  and  was  by  no  means  un- 
picturesque.  In  front  marched  a  pompous  official,  accompanied 
by  a  man  carrying  a  spear,  the  badge  of  authority  ;  he  was  close¬ 
ly  followed  by  a  knot  of  officials  in  a  neat  costume  of  a  coarse- 
looking  black  gauze,  like  thick  musquito-curtains.  On  their  backs 
or  shoulders  was  stamped  the  imperial  trefoil,  or  the  private  arms 
of  the  owner.  Some  were  dressed  exactly  alike,  others  wore  blue 
and  white  dresses ;  but  every  individual  was  evidently  in  a  uni¬ 
form  befitting  his  rank  and  position.  All  these  men,  however, 
were  probably  servants,  or  quite  subordinate  officials;  some  car¬ 
ried  aloft  umbrellas  covered  with  large  water-proof  bags,  and  oth¬ 
ers  lackered  portmanteaus  on  poles  over  their  shoulders.  This 
was  supposititious  baggage.  On  each  side  of  the  procession  walk¬ 
ed  policemen  in  a  sort  of  harlequin  costume,  composed  of  as  many 
colors  as  if  their  dress  was  made  from  a  patchwork  counterpane : 
each  of  these  men  carried  iron  rods  six  or  seven  feet  long,  from 
the  top  of  which  depended  a  quantity  of  iron  rings.  Every  time 
that  this  rod  was  brought  to  the  ground  with  the  jerk  of  author¬ 
ity,  it  emitted  a  loud  jingle,  which  was  heard  far  and  wide  through 
the  crowd,  and  was,  I  am  bound  to  say,  respected  by  them  accord¬ 
ingly.  Behind  this  vanguard  we  came,  some  on  horseback  and 
some  in  norimons ;  and  more  men  in  black  gauze,  and  umbrella- 
carriers,  and  variegated  policemen,  brought  up  the  rear. 

As  for  the  crowd,  it  was  wild  with  excitement ;  the  inhabitants 
of  every  cross  street  and  lane  poured  out  to  see  us  pass.  The  ex¬ 
citement  of  maid-servants  in  our  own  country,  where  the  strains 
of  martial  music  fall  upon  their  ears,  was  nothing  to  it.  There  were 


THE  FAIR  SEX. 


371 


mothers  with  small  babies  hanging  over  their  shoulders,  reckless 
of  their  progeny,  hastening  to  swell  the  crowd ;  children  dodging 
under  old  people’s  legs,  and  old  people  tottering  after  children, 
and  bathers  of  both  sexes,  regardless  of  the  fact  that  they  had 
nothing  on  but  soap,  or  the  Japanese  substitute  for  it,  crowding 
the  doorways.  The  clatter  of  pattens  was  quite  remarkable :  as 
all  the  women  wear  high  wooden  pattens,  which  are  very  incon¬ 
venient  to  run  in,  and  as  women  in  Japan,  as  in  England,  formed 
the  largest  proportion  of  the  mob,  the  scuffling  they  made  added 
to  the  tumult.  Not  that  the  people  were  the  least  disorderly ; 
they  laughed,  and  stared,  and  ran  parallel  with  us,  till  stopped  by 
a  barrier,  for  the  Japanese  are  perfect  in  the  management  of 
crowds.  In  the  principal  street  there  are  wooden  gates  about  ev¬ 
ery  two  hundred  yards,  with  a  gatekeeper  seated  in  a  little  house 
like  a  turnpike.  The  moment  we  pass  this  the  gate  is  shut,  and 
the  old  crowd  is  left  behind  to  crane  through  the  bars,  and  watch 
with  envious  eyes  the  new  crowd  forming.  All  the  cross  streets 
entering' the  main  street  are  shut  off  from  it  by  rojDes  stretched 
across  them,  under  or  over  which  the  people  never  attempt  to  pass. 

The  crowd  was,  to  all  appearance,  entirely  composed  of  the 
shopkeepers  and  lower  classes.  The  men  were  decently  clothed, 
and  the  women  wore  a  sort  of  jacket  above  their  skirt,  which  was, 
however,  constructed  upon  a  rather  neglige  principle.  The  first 
impression  of  the  fair  sex  which  the  traveler  receives  in  a  Japa¬ 
nese  crowd  is  in  the  highest  degree  unfavorable  ;  the  ghastly  ap¬ 
pearance  of  the  faces  and  bosoms,  thickly  coated  with  powder,  the 
absence  of  eyebrows,  and  the  blackened  teeth,  produce  a  most 
painful  and  disagreeable  effect.  Were  it  not  for  this  abominable 
custom,  Japanese  women  would  probably  rank  high  among  East¬ 
ern  beauties,  certainly  far  before  Chinese.  All  Japanese  writers 
whom  I  have  read  upon  the  subject  affirm  that  to  have  no  eye¬ 
brows  and  black  teeth  is  considered  a  beauty  in  Japan,  and  that 
the  object  of  the  process  is  to  add  to  the  charms  of  the  fair  one. 
The  result  of  my  inquiry  and  observation,  however,  rather  led  me 
to  form  an  opposite  conclusion. 

In  the  first  place,  young  ladies  do  not,  as  a  rule,  neglect  any 
means  of  improving  their  looks ;  but  no  Japanese  young  ladies, 
even  after  they  are  “  out,”  think  of  taking  this  method  of  increas¬ 
ing  their  powers  of  fascination  ;  they  color  their  cheeks  and  lips, 
and  deck  their  hair,  but  it  is  not  until  they  have  made  a  conquest 


.* 


372 


DISFIGUREMENT  OF  MARRIED  WOMEN. 


of  some  lucky  swain,  that,  to  prove  tkeir  devotion  to  him,  they  be¬ 
gin  to  blacken  their  teeth  and  pull  out  their  eyebrows.  He,  priv¬ 
ileged  being,  is  called  upon  to  exhibit  no  such  test  of  his  affection ; 
on  the  contrary,  his  lawful  wife  having  so  far  disfigured  herself  as 
to  render  it  impossible  that  she  should  be  attractive  to  any  one 
else,  seems  to  lose  her  charms  for  her  husband  as  well ;  so  he 
places  her  at  the  head  of  his  establishment,  and  adds  to  it  an  in¬ 
definite  number  of  handmaidens,  who  neither  pull  out  their  eye¬ 
brows  nor  blacken  their  teeth  ;  hence  it  seems  not  difficult  to  ac¬ 
count  for  the  phenomenon  which  is  universally  admitted,  that 
while  Japanese  wives  are  celebrated  for  their  virtue,  their  hus¬ 
bands  are  no  less  notorious  for  their  licentiousness. 

It  is  only  fair  to  state  that,  in  addition  to  black  teeth  and  bare 
brows,  a  Japanese  Lothario  has  the  avenging  dagger  to  deter  him 
from  intrigue,  adultery  in  Japan  being  punished  by  the  death  of 
both  the  guilty  parties.  But  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  la¬ 
dies  of  Japan  consider  themselves  a  more  ill-used  race  than  those 
in  other  parts  of  the  world ;  so  far  from  it,  there  is  probably  no 
Eastern  country  in  which  the  women  have  so  much  liberty  or  such 
great  social  enjoyment.  Polygamy  is  not  permitted,  and,  from  all 
we  could  learn,  the  position  of  the  ladies  corresponds  more  nearly 
to  that  which  they  occupy  in  the  West  than  in  the  East.  They 
are  respected  in  society  as  lawful  wives,  and  their  children  inherit 
whatever  titles  or  property  appertain  to  the  family.  To  them  be- 


Japanese  Ladies  and  Children  (from  a  native  drawing). 


JAPANESE  PLEASURE-PARTIES. 


373 


long  all  the  privileges  of  legitimacy  in  a  country  where  u  family’’ 
is  much  esteemed  :  a  matrimonial  alliance  is,  consequently,  a  mat¬ 
ter  of  serious  consideration  to  parents,  and  a  good  match  much  to 
be  desired.  Then  these  ladies  are  subject  to  no  seclusion,  but  go 
to  theatres,  breakfasts,  picnics,  and  even  flower-shows,  conducted 
after  their  own  fashion.  They  are  very  fond  of  pleasure-parties 
on  the  water,  and  are  skilled  in  the  guitar,  so  that  it  is  quite  pos¬ 
sible  to  be  sentimental  in  Japan  even  with  black  teeth.  The  la¬ 
dies  are  also  said  to  be  adepts  at  dancing,  but  the  gentlemen  look 
on  instead  of  offering  themselves  as  partners.  We  had,  unfortu¬ 
nately,  no  opportunity  of  seeing  any  Japanese  ladies,  our  time  was 
so  fully  occupied  ;  and  when  I  did  at  last  obtain  a  promise  from 
Moriyama  to  take  me  to  his  abode,  we  could  not  find  a  spare  hour. 

Fortunately,  we  did  not  digress  so  much  from  the  main  street 
of  Yedo  as  I  have  from  this  account  of  our  progress  along  it.  For 
at  least  two  miles  did  we  pass  between  two  rows  of  human  beings 
six  or  eight  deep,  until  at  last,  turning  down  a  short  lane,  and 
passing  between  a  pair  of  heavy  wooden  gates,  which  closed  be¬ 
hind  us,  we  entered  a  court-yard  formed  by  a  temple  and  its  ad¬ 
jacent  buildings,  at  one  corner  of  which  a  number  of  servants 
were  standing  on  the  steps  of  a  veranda  waiting  to  receive  us. 

Here  we  dismounted,  and  exultingly  took  possession  of  our  fu¬ 
ture  residence  in  Yedo. 


874 


RESIDENCE  OF  THE  BRITISH  MISSION. 


CHAPTER  XXYI. 

Residence  of  British  Mission. — Plan  of  our  House. — Soft  Matting. — Japanese  Spies. 
— Shingle  Roofs. —  The  Princes’  Quarter. — An  obstructive  Aristocracy. — Argu¬ 
ments  on  their  side. — Evils  of  Civilization. — Restrictions  on  the  Nobles. — Palaces 
of  the  Princes. — The  Citadel. — Panorama  of  Yedo. — An  imperial  Banquet. — A 
shopping  Expedition. — Fire-ladders. — We  are  mistaken  for  Chinese. — Bathing- 
houses. — Handsome  Lacker-ware. — A  Silk-mercer’s. — An  active  Police. — Organ¬ 
ization  of  the  Police  Department. — Street  Dogs. — Wild  Deer. 

The  apartments  appropriated  to  tire  use  of  the  British  mission 
were  connected  with  a  Buddhist  temple,  in  which  some  descrip¬ 
tion  of  service  seemed  constantly  to  be  going  on.  Before  land¬ 
ing,  Lord  Elgin  had  been  requested  to  send  in  an  exact  list  of 
the  number  of  Europeans,  including  servants,  by  whom  he  was  to 
be  accompanied,  and  he  accordingly  furnished  a  requisition  for 
accommodation  for  eighteen.  This  included  a  certain  number  of 
officers  from  the  squadron.  Some  of  these  occupied  rooms  usual¬ 
ly  inhabited  by  priests,  immediately  to  the  right  on  entering  the 
outer  yard.  Our  rooms  formed  one  side  of  an  inner  court,  or 
rather  garden,  consisting  of  a  lawn,  in  the  centre  of  which  was  a 
pond  covered  with  lotus,  and  containing  a  tiny  island,  approached 
by  a  rustic  bridge.  Yery  large  gold-fish  floated  lazily  about  un¬ 
der  the  broad  lotus-leaves. 

This  agreeable  refireat  was  shut  in  from  the  outer  world  by  the 
temple  on  one  side,  and  in  all  other  directions  by  a  high  artificial 
bank,  covered  with  shrubbery  and  pine  trees,  from  between  the 
lower  branches  of  which,  nevertheless,  curious  eyes  might  fre¬ 
quently  be  detected  watching  the  movements  of  the  mysterious 
strangers.  The  lower  rooms  were  all  divided  from  each  other  by 
paper  screens  running  on  slides,  and  movable  at  pleasure,  so  that 
they  could  be  subdivided  as  circumstances  required.  By  these 
means  we  procured  a  large  dining-room,' besides  Lord  Elgin’s  sit¬ 
ting-room  ;  and  a  spacious  loft  up  stairs,  in  addition  to  the  rooms 
below,  furnished  sleeping  accommodation  for  the  whole  party. 

Considering  how  short  a  time  had  been  allowed  our  hosts  to 
make  preparations  for  our  reception,  it  was  quite  wonderful  how 
carefully  they  had  forestalled  our  wants.  They  had  first  been 


SOFT  MATTING. 


375 


made  acquainted  with  the  requirements  of  Europeans  in  the  mat¬ 
ter  of  furniture  through  Mr.  Harris.  Prior  to  that  gentleman’s 
visit,  the  government  had  sent  privately  to  Simoda  to  have  exact 
copies  made  of  his  furniture,  so  that,  on  reaching  Yedo,  he  found, 
to  his  astonishment,  chairs,  tables,  and  beds,  in  a  city  where  all 
such  articles  had  been  previously  unknown.  So  we  were  de¬ 
lighted  to  find  not  only  beds,  but  mattresses,  and  musquito  cur¬ 
tains,  and  comfortable  dressing-gowns,  of  rather  too  thick  a  tex¬ 
ture,  however,  for  the  time  of  year. 

On  my  dressing-table  was  a  black  lacker  jug  and  basin,  but  on 
a  purely  Japanese  model,  the  jug  like  a  small  bucket,  the  basin 
like  a  miniature  tub ;  besides  this  there  was  a  black  lackered  to¬ 
bacco-stand,  furnished  with  pipes  and  tobacco.  These  stands  are 
like  small  trays,  and  contain  two  compartments  for  tobacco ;  one 
for  fire,  which  is  preserved  in  a  glowing  cake  under  ashes,  and 
one  for  the  discharged  remains  of  the  pipes :  these  lie  like  pens 
in  their  own  division.  I  had,  moreover,  a  little  window  overlook¬ 
ing  the  residence  of  a  Japanese  family  of  moderate  means.  From 
this  post  of  observation  I  could  see  the  children  playing  games, 
the  mamma  sewing,  or  busy  with  household  cares,  and  listen  to  a 
young  lady  who  used  to  be  rather  too  fond  of  playing  the  lute. 

All  our  rooms  were  matted  in  the  usual  way  with  wadded 
mats,  so  scrupulously  clean  that  we  began  by  walking  about  in 
our  own  or  Japanese  socks,  for  fear  of  dirtying  them  ;  but  it  was 
so  exceedingly  troublesome  to  be  perpetually  putting  on  and 
kicking  off  our  shoes,  that  we  ultimately  sacrificed  cleanliness  to 
convenience.  We  found,  moreover,  that  a  Japanese  sandal  was 


A  Japanese  Sandal. 


by  no  means  adapted  to  the  tender  toes  of  the  West.  These 
mats  were  all  exactly  the  same  size,  so  that  there  is  never  a  diffi¬ 
culty  about  getting  them  to  fit  the  apartment.  Each  mat  was  six 
feet  three  inches  long,  three  feet  two  inches  wide,  and  four  inches 


376 


JAPANESE  SPIES. 


thick ;  they  were  made  of  rice  or  wheat  straw  plaited  tightly.  A 
mat  has  thus  come  to  be  regarded  as  a  standard  measure  in  Jap¬ 
an  ;  and  inasmuch  as  the  rooms  are  capable  of  expansion  or  re¬ 
traction  at  pleasure  by  sliding  the  screens,  and  the  mats  are  con¬ 
veniently  small  and  movable,  the  internal  fitting  of  a  house  is  not 
a  very  elaborate  process. 

The  bathing  arrangements  were  perhaps  the  most  complete 
part  of  the  establishment.  There  were  three  bathing-rooms,  each 
containing  two  large  new  wooden  tubs,  one  of  which  was  kept 
constantly  supplied  with  hot,  the  other  with  cold  water.  There 
were  buckets  of  all  sizes  for  convenient  douching  and  splashing. 

As  the  Lieutenant  Governor  of  Yedo  was  the  high  official  re¬ 
sponsible  for  our  good  behavior,  and  for  all  contingencies  which 
might  arise  out  of  our  sojourn  in  the  capital,  it  was  only  natural 
that  he  should  adopt  the  necessary  precautionary  measures.  The 
large  anteroom  adjoining  our  apartments  was  accordingly  filled 
with  a  numerous  body  of  Japanese,  told  off  ostensibly  to  wait 
upon  us,  but  really  to  watch  and  report  our  hourly  proceedings 
as  well.  These  men  swore  allegiance  to  one  Tainoske,  an  inter¬ 
preter  of  an  inferior  grade  to  the  distinguished  Moriyama,  but  a 
most  civil  and  obliging  person;  nevertheless,  he  made  up  for  a 
scanty  knowledge  of  Dutch  by  an  anxious  willingness,  and  an 
imperturbable  temper,  under  sometimes  rather  trying  circum¬ 
stances.  It  is  due  to  his  satellites  to  say  that  they  were  equally 
amiable,  and  when  caught  poking  their  heads  above  the  stairs  to 
watch  the  process  of  the  Briton  going  to  bed,  and  ordered  by  him 
peremptorily  to  decamp,  they  always  did  so  with  smiles  and  bows, 
only,  however,  to  peep  at  him  again  when  the  first  opportunity 
offered.  The  excuse  which  naturally  occurs  to  a  Japanese  when 
he  visits  your  apartment  is  that  he  has  come  to  clean  something. 

Some  of  our  party  inhabiting  the  rooms  near  the  entrance  gate¬ 
way  were  more  highly  honored.  They  were  separated  from  an 
adjoining  house  only  by  a  paper  screen.  One  morning,  while 
dressing,  their  attention  was  arrested  by  a  scratching  upon  the 
paper,  followed  by  a  suppressed  tittering.  Upon  investigating 
the  cause,  a  pair  of  sparkling  eyes  were  visible  at  two  little  peep¬ 
holes  expressly  constructed :  it  was  evident  that  a  toilet,  as  per¬ 
formed  by  an  English  gentleman,  was  a  spectacle  which  afforded 
intense  amusement  to  the  young  ladies  of  the  family  next  door. 

The  outer  court-yard  was  a  constant  scene  of  bustle  and  confu- 


SHINGLE  EOOFS. 


377 


sion ;  here  were  norimans  and  horses  always  in  readiness,  and  a  row 
of  impromptu  stables  was  run  up  during  our  stay  with  wonderful 
rapidity.  I  watched  with  astonishment  the  process  of  roofing 
them  with  shingles.  A  man  crawled  along  with  a  basket  under 
his  arm  full  of  shingles  about  three  inches  square,  and  a  little 
thicker  than  wafers,  and  his  mouth  full  of  wooden  tacks :  these  he 
disgorged,  and  tapped  in  with  a  small  mallet  with  extraordinary 
skill  and  quickness,  completing  a  water-proof  roof  in  a  very  short 
time,  but  so  fragile  in  appearance  that  it  seemed  as  though  a  puff 
of  wind  would  blow  it  away.  The  Japanese  are  very  skillful 
builders.  The  annexed  wood-cut  is  a  representation,  by  a  native 
artist,  of  the  mode  of  plastering  a  house. 


Plasterers  at  Work  (from  a  native  drawing). 


Altogether  we  were  well  pleased  with  our  abode,  and,  having 
seen  ourselves  fairly  installed  in  it,  the  appetite  for  more  novelty 
began  again  to  make  itself  felt,  and  we  were  glad  of  the  excuse 
which  a  visit  to  Count  Poutiatine  afforded  us  to  sally  forth  once 
more  into  the  streets  of  Yedo. 

This  time  we  soon  turned  out  of  the  main  street,  and,  leaving 
the  dense  crowd  behind  us,  dived  into  the  Princes’  or  aristocratic 


378 


THE  PRINCES’  QUARTER. 


quarter.  We  were  amazed  at  the  different  aspect  wliicli  the  streets 
here  presented  from  those  we  had  just  left;  the  party-colored  po¬ 
licemen  did  not  think  it  worth  while  to  accompany  us,  so  small 
was  the  crowd  that  gathered  as  we  went.  Belgravia  in  Septem¬ 
ber  does  not  look  more  deserted  than  did  these  fashionable  thor¬ 
oughfares,  so  dull,  clean,  and  respectable.  On  each  side  of  the 
street,  which  was  twenty  or  thirty  yards  wide,  was  an  open  paved 
drain,  about  four  feet  in  depth  and  as  many  in  breadth ;  an  abund¬ 
ant  stream  of  running  water  carried  off  any  impurities  which 
might  be  thrown  into  it.  These  conduits  looked  moats  in  min¬ 
iature  to  the  princely  habitations  under  the  walls  of  which  they 
passed.  The  lower  parts  of  these  walls  were  built  of  huge  blocks 
of  rough  stone,  above  which  they  were  raised  to  the  height  of 
about  twenty  feet,  constructed  of  masonry,  but  carefully  white¬ 
washed,  and  ornamented  with  raised  groinings.  In  the  centre 
was  a  gateway  painted  red  or  some  bright  color,  with  a  pent  roof, 
and  ornaments  in  lacker  upon  it.  Beyond  this  there  was  no  sort 
of  architectural  pretension  about  these  palaces.  They  evidently 
covered  a  large  area  of  ground,  as  four  or  live  were  sufficient  to 
compose  a  whole  street,  the  walls  of  one  residence  extending  for 
two  or  three  hundred  yards,  and  here  and  there  perforated  with 
windows,  from  between  the  bars  of  which  peered  female  faces. 

We  had  no  opportunity  of  inspecting  the  internal  economy  of 
any  of  these  sumptuous  abodes.  They  belong  to  a  class  who  are 
for  the  most  part  unfavorable  to  the  introduction  of  foreigners 
into  Japan.  With  few  exceptions,  the  old  aristocracy  of  Japan 
dread  the  foreign  element  as  possibly  subversive  of  that  influence 
which  they  at  present  exercise  in  the  government  of  the  country. 

Knowing  that  these  sentiments  prevailed  largely,  and  were  to 
some  extent  gaining  ground  in  consequence  of  the  concessions 
made  in  the  treaty  recently  concluded  with  Mr.  Harris,  it  was  with 
some  dismay  that  we  heard  that  the  enlightened  prime  minister, 
Bitsuno-kami,  with  whom  that  treaty  had  been  negotiated,  had 
been  turned  out  of  office  a  few  days  before  our  arrival,  and  was 
succeeded  by  men  known  as  prominent  members  of  what  might 
be  called  the  Tory  party  of  Japan.  In  fact,  we  arrived  imme¬ 
diately  after  a  political  crisis  which  had  turned  upon  the  foreign 
question,  and  in  which  the  government  of  the  day  had  been 
beaten. 

As  we  rode  past  the  palaces  of  these  obstructive  grandees,  we 


AN  OBSTRUCTIVE  ARISTOCRACY. 


379 


could  scarcely  wonder  at  their  opposition  to  the  introduction  of 
any  disturbing  element  into  the  country.  Had  they  known  as 
much  of  the  civilization  of  the  West  as  we  did,  they  might,  per¬ 
haps,  have  doubted  about  the  propriety  of  excluding  it.  Not  be¬ 
ing  so  well  informed,  they  argue  probably  in  this  way:  “Our 
country  supplies  every  want  which  is  felt  by  the  population  that 
inhabits  it.  Abundantly  favored  by  Providence,  we  are  depend¬ 
ent  for  no  one  single  article  upon  our  neighbors,  and  are  still  de¬ 
prived  of  none  of  the  necessities  or  luxuries  of  life.  Our  large 
population,  estimated  at  thirty-five  millions,  has,  nevertheless, 
space  enough  in  the  area  furnished  by  these  fertile  islands.  With 
the  exception  of  a  few  orders  of  religious  mendicants,  abject  pov¬ 
erty  is  unknown  among  us.  The  government  is  conducted  upon 
a  system  which  supervises  all  classes  of  the  community,  from  the 
greatest  man  in  the  realm  to  the  humblest  individual  in  it ;  while, 
in  order  to  the  due  protection  of  society,  it  requires  a  strict  adher¬ 
ence  to  the  criminal  code,  which  punishes  severely  those  who  in¬ 
fringe  it.  Thus  the  great  mass  of  the  people  are  happy  and  con¬ 
tented,  while  we,  the  nobles  of  the  land,  are  by  no  means  disposed 
to  imperil  the  privileges  attaching  to  our  exalted  position.  We 
see  no  change  by  which  either  we  or  those  beneath  us  can  possi¬ 
bly  be  benefited.  We  desire  nothing  which  we  have  not  got. 
It  has  not  been  proved  to  us  that  railroads  or  electric  telegraphs 
make  people  happier.  We  tried  the  Christian  religion,  and  it  led 
to  the  destruction  of  thousands  of  our  countrymen.  We  do  not 
think  our  civilization  would  be  increased  by  a  knowledge  of  the 
latest  improvement  in  gunnery,  or  the  newest  invention  for  the 
destruction  of  our  fellow-creatures.  We  are  contented  with  sakee, 
and  desire  neither  brandy,  rum,  gin,  whisky,  nor  any  other  spirit¬ 
uous  production  of  progressive  countries.  We  can  bear  to  be  de¬ 
prived  of  opium,  a  luxury  the  charms  of  which  are  as  yet  un¬ 
known  to  us.  There  are  also  a  few  diseases  which  do  not  exist 
among  us,  and  the  importation  of  which  we  do  not  think  would 
increase  our  general  happiness.  At  present  our  subjects  are  peace¬ 
able  and  well-conducted,  of  an  honest  and  simple  nature,  not  given 
to  brawling  and  quarreling ;  but  from  what  we  have  seen  of  the 
Europeans  who  man  the  ships  coming  to  our  country,  we  do  not 
think  this  simplicity  and  tranquillity  in  our  sea-ports  wojild  be 
likely  to  continue.*  For  these  reasons  we,  the  pig-headed  aris- 

*  The  following  extract  from  a  late  Hong  Kong  paper  will  confirm  the  statement 


380 


RESTRICTIONS  ON  THE  NOBLES. 


tocracy  of  Japan,  do  not  desire  to  see  that  happy  and  favored 
empire  opened  to  the  civilization  of  the  West.” 

If  such  be  their  mode  of  reasoning,  we  can  only  pity  their  ig¬ 
norance  and  blindness,  and  refer  them  to  the  other  side  of  the 
Atlantic  for  a  definition  of  the  term  “  manifest  destiny.”  It  must 
not,  however,  be  supposed  that,  because  these  princes  are  content¬ 
ed  with  their  condition,  it  is  such  as  would  suit  the  aristocracy  of 
other  countries,  except,  perhaps,  that  of  Russia.  It  has  been, 
doubtless,  the  result  of  their  own  turbulence  and  insubordination 
that  they  are  now  so  narrowly  watched  by  the  government,  and 
treated  as  though  they  were  the  natural  enemies  of  the  state.  In 
former  times  Japan  was  divided  into  sixty-eight  separate  princi¬ 
palities.  In  consequence,  as  I  understood,  of  the  difficulty  of 
keeping  in  order  some  of  these  minor  potentates,  it  was  found 
expedient,  when  the  opportunity  offered,  to  subdivide  their  ter¬ 
ritories  with  a  view  of  lessening  their  power,  so  that  there  are 
now  three  hundred  and  sixty  feudal  princes  of  greater  or  less  im¬ 
portance,  each  of  whom  is  compelled  to  have  a  residence  in  Yedo, 
to  live  in  the  capital  during  six  months  of  the  year,  and  during 
the  remaining  six  months  to  retire  in  solitude  to  his  principality, 
leaving  his  wife  and  family  at  Yedo  as  hostages  for  his  good  be¬ 
havior. 

Besides  these,  there  are  about  three  hundred  smaller  divisions 
of  territory,  so  that  the  empire  is  altogether  divided  into  upward 
of  six  hundred  fiefs.  I  could  not  exactly  discover  the  nature  of 
the  tenure  by  which  these  were  severally  held.  The  original 
sixty-eight  doubtless  owed  allegiance  to  the  Mikado  alone.  Oth¬ 
ers  hold  of  the  Tycoon,  or  temporal  emperor ;  while  others  ap¬ 
pear  to  be  vassals  to  the  larger  princes,  or,  if  not  holding  directly 
of  them,  at  any  rate  recognize  their  ascendency,  and  are  consider¬ 
ed  so  far  beneath  them  in  rank  as  to  be  deprived  even  of  the  priv- 

of  the  Japanese  in  this  regard  :  “The  sooner  the  consuls  are  at  their  posts  in  Japan, 
and  the  treaties  ratified,  the  better.  The  sailors  from  the  ships  are  bringing  sad 
disgrace  on  the  foreign  name.  At  the  fire  which  occurred  at  Decima  a  few  weeks 
back,  they  behaved  most  shamefully,  and  it  was  known  that  they  had  plundered  dol¬ 
lars  to  a  considerable  amount.  These  they  of  course  desired  to  spend  after  the  Jack- 
on-shore  fashion.  They  accordingly  go  on  shore  in  quest  of  drink,  and  commit  all 
those  excesses  for  which  their  class,  under  such  circumstances,  is  notorious.  Some 
of  these  sailors  had  armed  themselves,  and  had  taken  refuge  in  the  mountains,  but 
had  been  apprehended  and  sent  back  to  their  ships.  The  Japanese  government 
were  naturally  much  incensed  at  this,  and  the  foreign  community  greatly  grieved.” 
— Daily  Press ,  Hong  Kong,  21st  of  April,  1859. 


PALACES  OF  THE  PRINCES. 


381 


ilege  of  haying  a  wife  and  family  permanently  resident  in  the  cap¬ 
ital.  Doubtless  some  of  these  princes  are,  practically,  absolute  in 
their  own  dominions,  and  set  even  the  council  of  state  at  defiance. 
Kangono-kami,  who  is  the  first  prince  in  the  empire ;  Satsuma, 
whose  daughter  is  married  to  the  temporal  emperor;  Achino- 
kami,  and  others,  are  not  to  be  trifled  with,  and  do  not  allow  gov¬ 
ernmental  interference  in  the  internal  management  of  their  affairs. 
It  is  a  hazardous  office  to  play  the  spy  in  the  capital  of  one  of 
these  magnates.  Others,  however,  are  less  fortunate;  they  are 
compelled  to  submit  to  the  supervision  of  two  government  secre¬ 
taries,  who  take  it  in  turn  to  administer  the  affairs  of  their  terri¬ 
tories. 

The  Prince  of  Satsuma  was  reported  to  have  no  less  than  nine 
town-houses  in  Yedo,  and  he  pays  his  annual  visit  to  the  capital 
accompanied  by  an  army  of  very  respectable  dimensions.  It  is 
an  ordinary  thing  for  one  of  these  princes  to  parade  the  country 
with  a  force  of  some  thousands  of  men.  When  we  remember 
that  all  these  followers  have  to  be  lodged  on  the  premises  of  their 
chief,  and  that  there  are  three  hundred  and  sixty  of  these  digni¬ 
taries,  we  can  not  wonder  that  their  residences  are  necessarily  ca¬ 
pacious,  and  cover  a  very  great  extent  of  ground.  To  judge  from 
the  noble  trees  we  observed  rising  above  the  walls,  spacious  pleas¬ 
ure-grounds  must  be  inclosed  within  them.  The  handsomest  pal¬ 
ace  I  observed  in  Yedo  was  that  belonging  to  Prince  Achi.  Sit¬ 
uated  on  the  steep  side  of  a  hill,  the  gates  were  tastefully  orna¬ 
mented,  the  walls  surmounted  with  trellis-work,  and  numerous 
magnificent  plane  and  other  trees  drooped  over  them  into  the 
street,  tempting  one  to  effect  a  burglarious  entrance,  and  explore, 
if  possible,  the  sacred  precincts.  Occasionally,  in  the  course  of 
our  explorations  of  the  city,  we  met  men  of  rank  riding  along  one 
of  those  silent  streets,  their  retinue  taking  up  almost  its  entire 
length,  consisting,  as  usual,  of  men  carrying  badges  on  long  poles, 
the  insignia  of  the  rank  of  their  lord,  umbrellas  in  bags,  and  lack¬ 
ered  portmanteaus.  When  a  great  man  wishes  to  move  about 
“nayboen,”  or  incognito,  his  retinue  is  not  decreased,  but  these 
badges  of  his  rank  are  packed  up  in  the  aforesaid  portmanteaus. 

If  the  residence  of  Count  Poutiatine,  which  we  at  last  reached, 
was  in  a  more  fashionable  quarter  than  ours,  it  was  neither  so 
commodious  nor  so  picturesque.  His  excellency  was  having  his 
audience  with  the  prime  minister,  so  we  prolonged  our  ride  toward 


382 


THE  CITADEL.— PANORAMA  OF  YEJDO. 


the  citadel.  Crossing  a  species  of  canal  which  forms  the  outer 
moat,  we  continued  to  pass  through  a  quarter  still  occupied  by 
the  residences  of  the  nobility,  until  we  burst  suddenly  upon  a 
view  so  unexpected  and  so  remarkable  in  its  character,  that  we 
could  scarcely  believe  that  we  were  -still  in  the  centre  of  a  huge 
city,  and  that  city  the  capital  of  an  empire  supposed  to  be  in  a 
state  of  barbarism.  Standing  on  a  broad  terrace,  we  looked  down 
some  seventy  or  eighty  feet  upon  a  moat  fifty  or  sixty  yards  in 
width,  but  expanding  to  a  small  lake,  covered  with  lotus,  as  it 
approached  the  precipitous  causeway  by  which  it  was  traversed. 
A  steep  slope  of  grassy  turf  rose  from  the  opposite  edge  of  the 
water  to  an  even  greater  elevation  than  that  at  which  we  were 
standing.  Groups  of  trees  fringed  the  water,  and  drooped  their 
boughs  into  it;  while  a  massive  wall,  constructed  of  blocks  of 
stone  almost  Cyclopean  in  their  proportions,  crowned  the  high 
bank.  This  wall  was  in  its  turn  surmounted  by  a  wooden  pali¬ 
sade — the  spreading  branches  of  gigantic  cedars,  and  the  leafy 
crowns  of  numerous  tall  trees  appearing  above  it,  gave  evidence 
of  gardens  and  pleasure-grounds  within. 

Following  along  the  margin  of  this  gigantic  ditch,  the  largest 
artificial  work  of  the  sort  I  ever  saw,  we  reached  the  narrow 
causeway  which  affords  ingress  to  this  rus  in  urbe ,  for  from  this 
point  we  were  emphatically  reminded  that  we  were  indeed  in  the 
centre  of  a  vast  city.  W e  had  now  attained  a  considerable  eleva¬ 
tion,  and,  except  where  the  prospect  was  interrupted  by  the  citadel 
itself,  obtained  an  extensive  panoramic  view  over  the  greater  part 
of  Yedo,  extending  in  an  endless  series  of  house-tops  in  a  souther¬ 
ly  direction,  and  fully  confirming  the  impression  which  was  rapidly 
gaining  upon  us,  that  the  capital  of  Japan  must  take  a  first-class 
position,  in  point  of  extent  and  population,  among  the  cities  of 
the  world.  The  citadel  alone  is  said  to  measure  eight  miles  in 
circumference,  and  to  afford  shelter  to  forty  thousand  souls,  which 
it  may  well  do,  and  yet  leave  room  for  spacious  palaces,  and 
scenes  of  rural  retirement  and  rustic  beauty.  As  its  imperial  oc¬ 
cupant  is  too  great  a  person  ever  to  be  permitted  to  pass  into  the 
vulgar  world  outside  its  walls,  he  is,  poor  man,  entitled  to  as  much 
space  as  can  reasonably  be  afforded  to  him  within  them. 

Reluctantly  turning  our  backs  upon  the  entrance  to  these  for¬ 
bidden  precincts,  we  jogged  homeward  back  through  the  quiet 
streets  to  where  policemen  again  waited  to  take  us  in  charge, 


AN  IMPERIAL  BANQUET. 


QQQ 

ooo 

and  crowds  again  pressed  and  scrambled  to  stare  at  ns;  and  so. 
thoroughly  exhausted  by  our  first  day  in  Yedo,  to  seek  repose  in 
the  cloisters  of  our  temple.  We  found,  however,  that  another 
ordeal  was  to  be  passed  before  we  could  flatter  ourselves  that  we 
should  be  left  alone.  The  emperor  had  sent  a  Japanese  dinner  to 
his  excellency,  and  when  we  arrived  the  floor  of  our  dining-room 
was  strewn  with  delicacies.  Each  person  was  provided  with  a 
little  repast  of  his  own,  the  exact  ditto  to  that  in  which  all  his 
friends  were  indulging ;  and  when  any  body  made  a  gastronomic 
discovery  of  any  value,  he  announced  it  to  the  company ;  so,  at 
the  recommendation  of  one,  we  all  plunged  into  the  red  lacker 
cups  on  the  right,  or,  at  the  invitation  of  another,  dashed  reck¬ 
lessly  at  what  seemed  to  be  pickled  slugs  on  the  left.  We  found 
it  difficult  even  then  to  describe  to  each  other  the  exact  dishes  we 
meant,  how  much  more  hopeless  to  attempt  it  now  ?  There  was 
a  good  deal  of  sea-weed  about  it,  and  we  each  had  a  capital  broiled 
fish.  With  that,  and  an  immense  bowl  of  rice,  it  was  impossible 
to  starve ;  but  my  curiosity  triumphed  over  my  discretion,  and  I 
tasted  of  every  pickle  and  condiment,  and  each  animal  and  veg¬ 
etable  delicacy,  of  every  variety  of  color,  consistency,  and  flavor ; 
an  experience  from  which  I  would  recommend  any  future  visitor 
to  Japan  to  abstain. 

As  the  Japanese  have  neither  pigs  nor  sheep,  poultry,  venison, 
and  fish  are  the  staples.  Many  of  the  religious  sects  in  the  coun¬ 
try  forbid  the  consumption  of  animal  food.  Meanwhile  our  lacker 
cups  were  abundantly  replenished  with  hot  sakee,  a  spirit  extract¬ 
ed  from  rice,  and  of  a  pale-sherry  color.  It  is  by  no  means  of  a 
disagreeable  flavor,  though,  when  imbibed  very  hot,  it  is  some¬ 
what  intoxicating.  We  were  thankful  at  last  to  get  to  bed  after 
so  much  excitement ;  and  if  our  rest  was  somewhat  troubled,  we 
had  no  right  to  complain. 

On  the  following  morning  we  started  immediately  after  break¬ 
fast  on  a  shopping  expedition.  Turning  to  the  left  on  entering 
the  main  street,  we  followed  it  for  upward  of  an  hour.  As  our 
horses  stepped  out  well,  I  should  judge  the  distance  traversed  to 
have  been  about  four  miles.  Throughout  its  entire  length,  we 
passed  between  crowded  lines  of  spectators,  and  through  a  long 
series  of  barriers.  I  observed  that  we  were  preceded  by  runners, 
who  went  in  advance  to  inform  the  ward-keepers  of  our  approach. 
At  most  of  the  barriers  a  ladder  was  erected  with  a  bell  at  the  top 


884 


FIRE-LADDERS. 


A  Fire-ladder  (from  a  native  drawing). 

of'  it,  to  be  rung  in  case  of  fire.  These  ladders  present  a  singular 
appearance  as  you  pass  along  the  street,  and  look  as  if  they  form¬ 
ed  part  of  a  show,  and  only  waited  for  “  the  donkey.”  The 
houses  were  most  of  them  built  of  wood,  but  tiled,  and  of  two 
stories.  The  architecture  of  Japan,  however,  is  so  unpretending, 
that,  although  the  streets  are  broad  and  clean,  and  thronged  with 
passengers  in  the  business  quarter,  they  are  by  no  means  impos¬ 
ing.  Here  and  there  we  pass  a  building  higher  than  the  rest, 
built  of  unburnt  brick,  with  iron  shutters.  This  is  a  fire-proof 
store,  in  which  property  can  be  stowed  away  in  safety  at  the  first 
tinkle  of  the  fire-bell.  Some  of  the  houses  are  supplied  with  large 
tubs,  kept  constantly  full  of  water,  in  anticipation  of  the  same 
much- dreaded  element. 

As  the  only  foreigners  of  whom  the  untraveled  inhabitants  of 
Yedo  have  ever  heard  are  the  Chinese,  we  had  the  very  high 
compliment  paid  us  of  being  supposed  to  belong  to  that  favored 
nation ;  so  that,  as  in  China  you  are  called,  as  you  ride  along  the 
streets,  a  barbarian  or  a  “  foreign  devil,”  in  Japan  the  gamins  run 
after  you  and  say,  u  Look  at  the  Chinamen !”  u  There  go  the 


BATHING-HOUSES.  385 

Chinamen!”  while  their  commercial  instinct  is  betrayed  by  the 
shout,  “Chinamen,  Chinamen!  have  you  any  thing  to  sell?” 

This  trilling  circumstance  enables  us  forcibly  to  realize  the  ex¬ 
tent  of  that  entire  exclusion  of  strangers  which  has  been  for  so 
long  so  jealously  and  successfully  maintained.  As  we  approach¬ 
ed  the  heart  of  the  city  the  shops  improved  in  appearance.  They 
are  open  to  the  street,  the  wares  displayed  for  the  most  part  upon 
a  counter  facing  it.  We  passed  over  three  wooden  bridges  on 
piles,  crossing  branches  of  the  Todagawa.  Many  of  the  shops 
have  sign-boards  on  single  posts,  like  those  of  public  houses  in 
England,  inscribed  with  both  Chinese  and  Japanese  characters; 
others  have  them  written  on  pieces  of  cotton.  The  bathing-houses 
are  all  distinguished  by  a  dark  blue  or  black  strip  of  cotton,  like 
a  banner,  waving  over  the  doorway.  These  establishments  are 
always  full  of  occupants,  and  I  consequently  observed  no  bathing 
in  the  streets  as  at  Nagasaki.  They  differ  slightly  from  those  at 
Simoda.  In  that  primitive  town  there  was  only  one  room  for 
both  sexes ;  but  at  Yedo  there  was  sometimes  a  partition  about 
breast  high  to  divide  the  ladies  from  the  gentlemen.  Over  the 
bathing-rooms  there  are  generally  tea-rooms,  to  which  the  bathers 
resort  when  in  that  soothed  and  relaxed  state  which  is  produced  by 
the  abundant  use  of  hot  water,  and,  without  troubling  themselves 
about  their  personal  appearance,  refresh  themselves  with  that  most 
popular  beverage. 

At  last,  after  a  progress  which  seemed  interminable,  we  arrived 
at  a  celebrated  lacker-shop,  and  were  soon  ushered  up  stairs  to  the 
show-rooms.  Here  we  found  specimens  of  that  manufacture  far 
•  superior  to  any  thing  we  had  seen  either  at  Nagasaki  or  Simoda, 
the  excellence  consisting  in  the  extent  to  which  the  design  is 
raised  upon  the  wood. 

The  varnish  itself  is  extracted  from  a  shrub  called  the  Orrosino- 
ki,  or  Rhus  vernix :  it  is  said  to  be  procured  from  incisions  made 
on  stems  that  are  three  years  old,  from  which  it  oozes  like  the 
milk  of  the  India-rubber-tree.  It  is  tinted  in  a  great  variety  of 
colors  with  coloring  matter,  which  is  rubbed  into  it  upon  a  copper 
plate :  it  is  then  laid  on  in  successive  coats,  and  heavily  embossed 
in  gold  or  silver. 

The  most  common  designs  are  the  three  emblems  of  longevity, 
the  tortoise,  the  stork,  and  the  pine-tree.  The  Japanese  are  very 

fond  of  chimerical  animals.  Thus  the  tortoise  is  often  represent- 

B  B 


386 


A  SILK  MERCER’S. 


ed  with  a  large  bushy  tail ;  in  this  form  he  is  called  Mooki.  They 
are  also  fond  of  a  fabulous  monster  with  the  head  of  a  dragon,  the 
body  of  a  horse,  and  the  hoofs  of  a  deer.  In  addition  to  which, 
Fusi-yama,  junks  under  full  sail,  or  fishes  lashing  the  waves  furi¬ 
ously  with  their  tails,  are  very  favorite  subjects. 

The  charm  of  every  thing  we  saw  at  Yedo  lay  in  the  fact  of  its 
being  purely  for  Japanese  use.  Every  article  was  illustrative  of 
the  customs  of  the  country.  There  were  luncheon-trays,  ladies’ 
toilet-stands,  arrangements  for  carrying  fire,  writing-cases,  cabinets 
to  be  presented  on  the  occasion  of  weddings ;  in  fact,  a  host  of 
patterns  and  contrivances,  strange  to  our  Western  eyes,  but  ex¬ 
quisitely  finished,  and  most  elaborately  ornamented  with  quaint 
and  beautiful  devices. 

Having  ticketed  our  purchases  here,  to  be  paid  for  in  all  due 
form  through  the  government  money-changers  afterward,  we  pro¬ 
ceeded  to  an  extensive  silk-shop  upon  the  scale  of  Howell  & 
James’s.  The  whole  of  the  lower  story  was  open  to  the  street, 
and  looked  like  a  vast  hall  fifty  or  sixty  yards  long  by  twenty  in 
width,  intersected  with  counters  nicely  matted,  and  surrounded  by 
shelves  and  drawers  containing  goods ;  but  the  largest  show-rooms 
were  up  stairs.  Following  obsequious  shopmen  to  the  upper  story, 
we  were  soon  seated  on  a  low  divan,  covered  with  red  cloth,  where 
a  train  of  boys,  carrying  tea  and  pipes,  made  their  entry,  and  pre¬ 
sented  them  to  us  on  their  knees.  As  sugar  is  considered  a  great 
luxury  in  Japan,  and  is  one  of  the  few  articles  imported  into  the 
country,  it  is  considered  a  mark  of  refinement  to  furnish  eau  sucre 
on  these  occasions ;  but  the  most  sentimental  description  of  bever¬ 
age  is  hot  water  poured  over  rose-leaves.  It  requires  a  highly 
aesthetic  frame  of  mind  to  relish  a  rosebud  cocktail. 

While  we  are  sipping  our  tea,  the  whole  floor  has  become 
strewn  with  silks,  crapes,  and  embroideries  of  every  description 
of  texture,  shade  of  color,  and  brilliancy  of  pattern.  The  silks  in 
Japan  are  said  to  be  inferior  to  those  of  China,  though  to  our  in¬ 
experienced  eyes  they  looked  quite  equal  to  them.  The  gauzes 
and  crapes  would  create  a  furor  in  England,  particularly  the  for¬ 
mer,  as  the  stuff  is  made  of  so  stiff  a  material  that  it  would  an¬ 
swer  the  double  purpose  of  a  cage  and  a  dress.  The  embroider¬ 
ies  were  infinitely  superior  to  any  thing  that  China  can  produce ; 
they  are  usually  worked  on  satin,  and  remind  one  rather  of  the 
Gobelin  tapestry  than  of  any  modern  embroidery.  Many  of  the 


ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  POLICE  DEPARTMENT. 


387 


patterns  and  combinations  of  color  show  great  taste.  The  Jap- 


Pattern-designer  (from  a  native  drawing). 


anese  are  remarkable  for  the  sim¬ 
plicity  and  elegance  of  their  taste 
in  matters  of  dress  or  ornament, 
as  a  general  rule  avoiding  gaudy 
patterns,  or  any  thing  which,  in 
the  vernacular  of  the  day,  is 
known  as  “loud.”  Here  is  an 
old  gentleman  with  spectacles  on 
nose,  whom  a  native  artist,  with 
some  humor,  has  represented  as 


engaged  in  designing  patterns. 

We  quite  regretted  that  all  these  curiosities  of  dress  and  mate¬ 
rial  should  be  displayed  before  persons  so  little  able  to  appreciate 
them.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  contents  of  a  Japanese 
silk-mercer’s  shop,  transported  to  England,  and  exhibited  to  the 
female  public  of  our  metropolis,  would  draw  large  and  fashiona¬ 
ble  crowds.  While  we  were  in  despair  about  what  to  buy,  and 
lost  in  perplexed  speculation  as  to  what  would  do  for  dresses,  I 
was  amused  in  watching  the  humors  of  the  crowd  collected  in  the 
street  below,  waiting  for  our  appearance.  They  were  kept  from 
pressing  near  the  doorway  by  a  cord  drawn  in  a  semicircle  round 
it.  But  a  good  deal  of  badinage  went  on ;  and  one  man  was  so 
much  laughed  at  that  he  got  excited,  and  was  about  to  resort  to 
violent  measures,  when  he  was  at  once  collared  by  the  ever- vigil¬ 
ant  police,  his  hands  were  fastened  behind  him,  and  he  was  walk¬ 
ed  off  in  double-quick  time,  to  the  great  amusement  of  the  by¬ 
standers. 

I  also  observed,  for  the  first  time,  one  or  two  carts  of  a  very 
rude  construction,  and  drawn  by  bullocks :  but  they  are  apparent¬ 
ly  very  little  used  in  Japan.  The  lower  orders,  whose  rank  does 
not  entitle  them  either  to  ride  on  horseback  or  to  go  in  norimons, 
are  carried  by  two  men  in  a  most  uncomfortable  sort  of  basket, 
which  doubles  their  knees  up  to  their  chins,  so  that  it  almost 
gives  one  the  cramp  to  look  at  them. 

The  whole  system  of  municipal  government  in  the  cities  in  Ja¬ 
pan  seems  very  perfect.  There  is  a  mayor  or  governor,  some  of 
whose  emissaries  lived  in  our  ante-chamber ;  and  there  are  a  cer¬ 
tain  number  of  deputies  to  assist  him,  and  a  class  of  officials  who 
seem  to  be  the  intermediaries  between  the  people  and  those  in 


388 


STREET-DOGS. 


authority,  and  whose  business  it  is  to  receive  and  present  peti¬ 
tions,  and  to  forward  complaints  to  the  governors,  and  plead  the 
cause  of  the  aggrieved  memorialists.  Then  every  street  has  its 
magistrate,  who  is  expected  to  settle  all  disputes,  to  know  the 
most  minute  details  of  the  private  and  public  affairs  of  every 
creature  within  his  jurisdiction,  as  reported  to  him  by  spies,  and 
to  keep  an  accurate  record  of  births,  deaths,  and  marriages.  He 
is  responsible  for  all  broils  and  disturbances,  and  for  the  good 
conduct  of  the  street  generally.  This  functionary  is  also  provided 
with  deputies,  and  is  elected  by  the  popular  voice  of  the  inhabit¬ 
ants  of  the  street.  To  render  the  task  easier,  the  male  household¬ 
ers  are  divided  into  small  companies  of  four  or  five  each,  the  head 
of  which  is  responsible  to  the  magistrate  for  all  the  proceedings 
of  the  members.  This  complete  organization  is  furnished  with  a 
secretary,  a  treasurer,  a  certain  number  of  messengers,  etc.  Be¬ 
sides  the  regular  constables,  it  is  patrolled  at  night  by  the  inhabit¬ 
ants  themselves,  in  parties  of  two  or  three.  From  all  which  it  will 
appear  that  “our  streets,”  in  a  Japanese  city,  must  be  a  source  of 
considerable  interest  and  occupation  to  its  inhabitants. 

The  streets  of  Yedo  are  infested  with  dogs — not  the  wretched 
mangy  curs  of  Constantinople  or  the  pariahs  of  India,  but  sleek, 
well-fed,  audacious  animals,  who  own  no  masters,  but  who  seem 
to  thrive  on  the  community,  and  bid  it  defiance.  They  trot  proud¬ 
ly  about,  with  ears  and  tail  erect,  and  are  most  formidable  to  meet 
in  a  by -lane.  These  animals  are  held  in  as  high  veneration  and 
respect  as  they  were  in  former  times  in  Egypt ;  the  most  ancient 
traditions  attach  to  them,  and  it  is  a  capital  crime  to  put  one  to 
death.  There  are  even  guardians  appointed  for  their  protection, 
and  hospitals  to  which  they  are  carried  in  case  of  illness.  Cer¬ 
tainly  a  long  experience  has  taught  them  to  profit  by  the  immu¬ 
nity  from  persecution  which  they  enjoy.  It  is  only  due  to  them 
to  say  that,  as  a  race,  they  are  the  handsomest  street-dogs  I  ever 
saw.  The  only  large  animals  in  Japan  are  horses,  oxen  and  cows, 
and  buffaloes ;  but  milk,  butter,  and  cheese  are  unknown  as  ar¬ 
ticles  of  consumption.  There  are  no  asses  or  mules,  and  scarcely 
any  pigs.  The  largest  wild  animals  are  deer,  of  which,  however, 
there  are  very  few. 

As  the  audience  with  the  two  chief  ministers  of  state  was  fixed 
for  the  afternoon,  we  were  obliged  to  hurry  home  to  prepare  for 
that  important  ceremony. 


A  Street  in  the  aristocratic  Quarter  oi  i'edo.  (From  a  native  Drawing.) 


\ 


V. 


, 


CONSTITUTION  OF  GOVERNMENT. 


391 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Constitution  of  Government. — “Nayboen.” — The  Spy  System.” — The  Council  of 
State. — A  political  Crisis. — The  “Happy  Dispatch.” — Ruining  a  Politician. — 
The  Japanese  social  Scale. — A  Visit  to  the  Citadel. — The  Japanese  Ministers. — 
Japanese  Flunkies. — Tea  and  Sweetmeats. — Shopping  in  Yedo. — Dog  Mania. — 
Official  Visit  of  Commissioners. — Official  Costume. — Ham  and  Champagne. — The 
first  Day’s  Conference. — Jocosity  of  Higo-no-kami. — General  Good-humor. 

Before  proceeding  to  describe  onr  audience  with  the  ministers 
of  state,  it  will  be  necessary  to  give  a  brief  sketch  of  the  system 
of  government  of  Japan,  although  gathered  from  somewhat  im¬ 
perfect  sources ;  for  the  communicative  Moriyama  was  generally 
too  busy  to  enter  upon  any  detailed  account  of  Japanese  institu¬ 
tions  ;  and,  although  he  professed  the  utmost  frankness  in  his  in¬ 
tercourse  with  us,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  he  shared  the  prej¬ 
udices  and  obeyed  the  instructions  of  his  government  in  withhold¬ 
ing  from  us  all  the  information  in  his  power.  It  was  rather  from 
incidental  circumstances,  in  the  course  of  our  negotiations,  that  we 
gathered  some  idea  of  the  true  source  of  authority  in  Japan. 

Although  nominally  consulted  in  temporal  matters,  and  jealous¬ 
ly  distinguished  from  his  temporal  rival  by  the  term  emperor,  the 
Mikado,  or  spiritual  emperor,  is  in  fact  a  mere  puppet.  He  occa¬ 
sionally  receives  visits  of  ceremony  from  the  Tycoon,  and  gives  a 
formal  sanction  to  matters  of  state,  but  generally  votes  the  spiritu¬ 
al  crown  a  bore  before  he  has  worn  it  very  long,  and,  abdicating 
in  favor  of  a  son,  descends  from  the  realms  above,  and  passes  a 
peaceful  old  age  in  this  sublunary  sphere. 

The  Tycoon,  on  the  other  hand,  is  ostensibly  the  administrator 
of  the  empire ;  but  he,  too,  has  been  exalted  to  so  high  a  pitch  of 
temporal  dignity  that  his  lofty  station  has  been  robbed  of  all  its 
substantial  advantages,  and  he  passes  the  life  of  a  state  prisoner, 
shut  up  in  his  magnificent  citadel,  except  when  he  pays  a  state 
visit  to  Miako.  It  was  a  cruel  satire  upon  this  unhappy  poten¬ 
tate  to  present  him  with  a  yacht ;  one  might  as  well  request  the 
Pope’s  acceptance  of  a  wife.  There  is,  indeed,  a  practice  which 
exists  in  Japan,  and  which  may  have  extended  to  other  countries, 
of  doing  improper  things  u  nayboen,”  as  it  is  called  here ;  in  other 


892 


THE  SPY  SYSTEM. 


words,  in  a  recognized  incognito.  Whether,  under  this  happy  ar¬ 
rangement,  the  emperor  sometimes  slips  out  of  his  back  door,  I 
was  not  informed;  but  it  is  certain  that  the  nobles  of  the  land 
avail  themselves  extensively  of  the  latitude  which  it  permits. 

In  a  country  governed  by  etiquette,  and  in  which  every  indi¬ 
vidual  is  a  slave  to  conventional  rules  of  the  most  precise  and  rigid 
description,  it  is  necessary  to  have  a  loop-hole  which  enables  them 
to  sink"  to  the  level  of  ordinary  mortals ;  in  other  words,  to  in¬ 
dulge  their  natural  appetites  for  pleasure  or  vice.  Under  the  con¬ 
venient  system  of  “  nayboen,”  a  noble  may  do  any  thing  which 
is  not  forbidden  to  the  meanest  subject.  If  the  emperor  can  hot 
take  advantage  of  “nayboen”  while  he  is  alive,  he  can,  as  we  aft¬ 
erward  discovered,  die  “nayboen.”  This  is  a  common  practice 
among  grandees,  their  death  being  kept  secret  until  the  next  heir 
is  firmly  installed  in  the  possession  of  the  family  dignity  and 
honors. 

The  time  of  the  emperor  seems  to  be  occupied  with  audiences, 
receiving  reports,  and  other  official  formalities,  and  he  is  nomin¬ 
ally  consulted,  and  his  ratification  obtained  to  every  measure  de¬ 
cided  upon  by  his  council  of  state.  It  is  said  that  he  is  as  nar¬ 
rowly  watched  by  spies  as  any  of  his  subjects.  In  fact,  the  more 
we  investigate  the  extraordinary  system  under  which  Japan  is 
governed,  the  more  evident  does  it  become  that  the  great  princi¬ 
ple  upon  which  the  whole  fabric  rests  is  the  absolute  extinction 
of  individual  freedom :  to  arrive  at  this  result,  resort  is  had  to  a 
complicated  machinery  so  nicely  balanced  that,  as  every  bod}?- 
watches  every  body,  so  no  individual  can  escape  paying  the  penal¬ 
ty  to  society  of  any  injury  he  may  attempt  to  inflict  upon  it.  One 
most  beneficial  result  arising  from  this  universal  system  of  espion¬ 
age — for  it  extends  through  all  classes  of  society — is  the  entire 
probity  of  every  government  employe.  So  far  as  we  could  learn 
or  see,  they  were  incorruptible.  When  men  can  neither  offer  nor 
receive  bribes ;  when  it  is  almost  impossible,  even  indirectly,  to 
exercise  corrupt  influences,  there  is  little  fear  of  the  demoralization 
of  public  departments  of  the  state.  In  this  respect  Japan  affords 
a  brilliant  contrast  to  China,  and  even  to  some  European  coun¬ 
tries.  So  long  as  this  purity  exists,  even  though  purchased  at  the 
cost  of  secret  espial,  there  can  be  little  cause  to  fear  the  decadence 
of  the  empire.  Nominally  not  a  constitution,  but  a  despotism,  the 
government  of  Japan  is  practically  an  oligarchy ;  but  every  noble 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  STATE. 


393 


is  watched  by  the  spies  and  enthralled  by  the  public  opinion  of 
his  class,  which  he  dares  not  venture  to  outrage.  There  is,  in¬ 
deed,  a  council  of  state,  composed  of  five  of  the  highest  grade  of 
the  aristocracy,  who  are  chosen  by  the  Tycoon  himself,  and  a 
minor  council,  consisting  of  eight  of  the  titular  princes.  All  these 
are  under  the  strict  surveillance  of  private  spies,  who  report  to 
their  own  masters;  and  from  the  evident  difficulty  the  commis¬ 
sioners  found  in  conceding  certain  points  to  which  the  kamis  or 
princes  were  avowedly  hostile,  the  government  probably  stand  in 
awe  of  that  influential  body.  It  was  doubtless  owing  to  the  press¬ 
ure  which  the  latter  brought  to  bear  upon  the  government  of  Bit- 
su-no-kami,  the  late  prime  minister,  that  he  was  compelled  to  re¬ 
sign  his  office.  It  is  a  singular  fact,  that  in  Japan,  where  the  in¬ 
dividual  is  sacrificed  to  the  community,  he  should  seem  perfectly 
happy  and  consented ;  while  in  America,  where  exactly  the  oppo¬ 
site  result  takes  place,  and  the  community  is  sacrificed  to  the  in¬ 
dividual,  the  latter  is  in  a  perpetual  state  of  uproarious  clamor  for 
his  rights. 

It  is  this  council,  then,  influenced  by  the  public  opinion  of  the 
aristocracy,  which  governs  Japan.  To  it  all  official  spies  report ; 
they  appoint  all  governors  and  secretaries  for  the  administration 
of  the  affairs  of  provinces  belonging  to  the  crown  and  many  of  the 
princes,  and  are  supposed  to  act  as  a  check  upon  these  latter,  who 
are,  however,  in  all  probability,  kept  in  better  order  by  rival  jeal¬ 
ousies  than  direct  governmental  influence.  There  is  another  body 
of  men  who  possess  great  influence  in  the  state;  these  are  the 
princes  of  the  blood.  Should  the  Tycoon  and  his  council  differ 
upon  any  weighty  matter  of  state  government,  the  question  is  re¬ 
ferred  for  arbitration  to  a  tribunal  composed  of  three  of  these  roy¬ 
al  princes.  Should  they  confirm  the  opinion  of  the  council,  the  Ty¬ 
coon,  to  whom  is  denied  the  privilege  of  hara-kiri,  or  the  “happy 
dispatch,”  has  no  alternative  but  to  abdicate  incontinently  in  favor 
of  his  nearest  heir.  Should,  on  the  other  hand,  the  umpires  agree 
with  their  royal  relative,  which  in  all  probability  they  do,  unless 
public  opinion  is  too  strongly  against  them,  then  the  whole  of  the 
council  are  bound,  without  farther  ceremony,  at  once  to  dispatch 
themselves,  in  the  happy  manner  peculiar  to  Japan,  to  those  Elys- 
ian  fields,  where  they  will  probably  become  distinguished  as  canon¬ 
ized  kamis,  and  the  patron  saints  of  many  a  Japanese  household. 

This  notorious  method  of  suicide,  the  only  Japanese  custom 


394 


THE  “  HAPPY  DISPATCH.” 


with  which  the  Western  world  has  long  been  familiar,  has  of  late 
years  assumed  a  somewhat  modified  form,  and  no  longer  consists 
in  that  unpleasant  process  of  abdomen  ripping,  which  must  have 
been  almost  as  disagreeable  an  operation  to  witness  as  to  perform. 
My  friend  Higo-no-kami  presented  me  with  a  knife  proper  to  be 
used  under  the  old  system — an  exceedingly  businessdike  weapon 
about  ten  inches  long,  sharp  as  a  razor,  and  made  of  steel  of  the 
highest  temper.  Now  this  knife  is  only  used  to  make  a  slight  in¬ 
cision,  significant  of  the  intention  of  the  victim  to  put  an  end  to 
himself.  He  has  collected  his  wife  and  family  to  see  how  a  hero 
can  die ;  his  dearest  friend,  he  who  in  our  own  country  would 
have  been  his  best-man  at  his  wedding — stands  over  him  with  a 
drawn  sword,  and  when  he  commences  to  make  the  aforesaid  in¬ 
cision,  the  sword  descends,  and  the  head  rolls  at  the  feet  of  his  dis¬ 
consolate  family. 

Whether  this  mode  of  suicide  is  really  common  at  the  present 
day,  I  could  not  ascertain ;  no  instance  of  it  came  to  our  knowl¬ 
edge  during  our  stay ;  and  I  imagine  it  is  too  serious  a  step  to  be 
taken  except  on  very  weighty  grounds.  These  may  arise  either 
from  failure  or  neglect  in  a  public  trust,  or  in  consequence  of  the 
commission  of  some  private  injury.  In  some  instances  it  seems 
to  answer  the  purpose  of  a  duel ;  it  is  the  reduction  of  that  prac¬ 
tice  to  its  logical  conclusion,  and  terminates  in  the  death  of  both 
parties  by  the  hands  of  their  friends ;  but  more  commonly  it  is  re¬ 
sorted  to  as  the  means  of  preserving  from  disgrace  a  whole  fam¬ 
ily,  one  member  of  which  has  in  some  way  dishonored  his  name : 
it  is  a  certificate  which  whitewashes  all  the  survivors.  A  man 
who  fears  to  face  his  destiny  in  this  form,  when  the  claims  of  hon¬ 
or  demand  it,  places  his  entire  family  without  the  social  pale.  I 
am  not  aware  wherein  the  Japanese  points  of  honor  consist,  but 
we  may  assume  that  where  the  preservation  of  it  in  the  individ¬ 
ual  requires  so  great  a  sacrifice,  the  standard  is  proportionably 
high — far  more  so,  probably,  than  would  suit  our  views  in  En¬ 
gland,  where  it  would  be  an  exceedingly  unpopular  way  of  solv¬ 
ing  a  constitutional  difficulty.  A  ministry  would  always  prefer 
a  dissolution  of  Parliament  to  a  personal  dissolution  of  this  na¬ 
ture.  It  is  pleasanter  to  go  to  the  country  than  out  of  it.  A  mere 
change  of  government,  even  in  Japan,  however,  does  not  involve 
these  consequences,  unless  the  Tycoon  is  implicated.  Witness  the 
still-living  Bitsu-no-kami. 


RUINING  A  POLITICIAN.— THE  JAPANESE  SOCIAL  SCALE.  395 

Perhaps  it  is  because  the  11  happy  dispatch”  is  found  to  be  an 
inconvenient  way  of  settling  personal  or  political  difficulties  that 
another  mode  exists  of  removing  a  dangerous  person  much  more 
refined  in  its  character.  When  a  man  becomes  an  object  of  dis¬ 
trust  or  suspicion  to  the  government,  either  from  his  great  influ¬ 
ence  or  wealth,  he  is  promoted  to  some  office  generally  at  Miako, 
which  he  is  compelled  to  accept,  and  which  entails  such  a  vast  ex¬ 
penditure  that  he  is  inevitably  ruined.  Even  if  his  means  stand 
the  first  shock,  one  visit  from  the  Tycoon,  when  he  goes  to  pay 
his  respects  to  the  Mikado,  completes  the  work. 

Such  is  an  imperfect  outline  of  the  system  of  government  and 
of  the  constitution  of  the  upper  ranks  in  society.  Although  the 
commissioners  were  called  kamis,  it  did  not  necessarily  follow  that 
they  were  of  princely  rank,  or  belonged  to  the  first  class  of  nobles. 
Kami  seems  to  be  a  generic  appendage  to  the  names  of  men  of  a 
certain  rank,  just  as,  in  England,  all  noblemen  between  the  ranks 
of  marquess  and  baron  are  styled  lord.  It  is  a  title  which  can  not 
be  used  except  by  those  of  gentle  blood.  Next  in  order  to  the 
Saimios,  or  second  class  of  nobles,  come  the  priests,  who  are  in 
their  turn  followed  by  the  first  and  second  classes  of  officials,  who 
are  for  the  most  part  men  belonging  to  the  military  grade,  and 
have  achieved  their  rank,  and  the  privilege  of  wearing  two  swords, 
by  their  merit.  They  are  followed  by  the  professional  class — 
merchants,  traders,  and  peasantry.  In  addition  to  these  social  dis¬ 
tinctions,  there  is  a  pariah  or  despised  caste,  consisting  of  tanners 
and  others. 

To  return,  however,  to  the  council  of  state,  each  of  the  five  min¬ 
isters  of  which  it  is  composed  are  appointed  by  the  Tycoon,  and 
preside  over  separate  departments ;  they  rank  in  regular  order, 
and,  among  their  other  functions,  to  the?  two  senior  is  committed 
the  control  of  foreign  affairs.  There  were  two  gentlemen,  Otto 
Bungo-no-kami  and  another,  whose  acquaintance  we  were  now 
about  to  make.  Our  morning  had  been  so  much  occupied  in  the 
lacker  and  silk  shops  that  it  was  late  in  the  afternoon  before  we 
started  on  a  five-mile  journey  to  the  official  residence  of  these  dig¬ 
nitaries,  which  was  just  inside  the  farther  gate  of  the  citadel. 

Our  way,  as  usual,  led  us  down  the  main  street.  I  made  my 
first  experience  of  a  norimon  on  this  occasion,  and  obtained  a  view 
of  the  crowd  in  a  squatting  posture ;  for,  while  the  train  of  ten 
norimons  was  passing,  the  people  sat  on  their  heels  to  obtain  a 


396 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  CITADEL. 


view  of  fhe  occupants.  As  some  of  these  were  naval  officers  in 
full  uniform,  they  exhibited  signs  of  unusual  satisfaction. 

In  order  not  to  dirty  the  mats  of  our  hosts,  we  were  each  pro¬ 
vided  with  a  pair  of  slippers  in  which  to  scuffle  across  the  yard, 
for  it  is  not  etiquette  in  Japan  for  any  but  the  owner  of  the  house 
to  go  beyond  the  outer  threshold  in  his  norimon.  At  that  point 
all  guests  are  put  down,  and  walk  to  the  next  entrance. 

Passing  over  a  bridge  which  spanned  the  moat,  and  under  a 
gateway  of  massive  proportions,  we  found  ourselves  within  the 
walls  of  the  citadel  at  the  opposite  side  from  that  on  which  we 
had  visited  it  in  our  ride  of  the  day  before. 

Unluckily  we  had  not  far  to  go,  so  that  we  saw  scarcely  an}^ 
thing  of  the  interior  of  this  interesting  spot.  A  broad  street,  sim¬ 
ilar  to  those  in  the  Princes’  quarter,  led  us  to  a  handsome  gate¬ 
way  ;  this,  on  one  account,  at  all  events,  we  were  not  a  little  re¬ 
lieved  to  find,  was  our  journey’s  end,  as  the  posture  during  an 
hour  and  a  half  had  been  a  trying  one  for  British  legs.  Emerg¬ 
ing  from  our  box-like  conveyances,  we  shuffled  after  Moriyama, 
who  was  always  at  his  post.  Ascending  some  steps,  at  the  top  of 
which  we  relinquished  our  slippers,  we  passed  through  a  series  of 
ante-chambers,  with  walls  of  paper  screens,  until  we  were  ushered 
finally  into  an  oblong  apartment,  at  the  farther  end  of  which,  on 
the  left-hand  side,  stood  the  two  ministers  behind  two  low  square 
tables  and  six  wax  candles  on  single  stands,  for  it  was  by  this 
time  7  P.M.  Exactly  facing  them  were  three  tables  and  six  more 
candles,  behind  which  we  took  up  our  position.  For  some  time 
we  all  remained  standing,  and  the  usual  complimentary  expressions 
were  interchanged.  Then,  all  having  left  the  room  except  Lord 
Elgin,  Mr.  ILewsken,  and  myself,  we  sat  down  on  chairs  (an  unex¬ 
pected  luxury),  and  proceeded  to  business.  Moriyama,  during  all 
this  time,  was  in  a  prostrate  attitude  on  the  floor  between  Lord 
Elgin  and  the  ministers,  touching  the  ground  reverentially  with 
his  forehead  whenever  he  was  called  upon  to  interpret.  Lower 
down,  and  remaining  standing,  were  our  friends  the  commission¬ 
ers  ;  while  in  a  sort  of  passage  formed  by  a  hanging  screen  behind 
the  ministers  were  a  row  of  people' who  ostensibly  took  no  part  in 
the  ceremony,  but  some  of  whom  were  no  doubt  spies,  while  oth¬ 
ers  I  observed  occasionally  prompting  the  ministers.  These  latter 
personages  seemed  somewhat  embarrassed  by  the  novelty  of  their 
situation,  and  gave  one  the  impression  of  being  very  new  to  office. 


Interview  between  the  Earl  of  Elgin  and  the  Prime  Ministers  of  Japan. 


JAPANESE  FLUNKIES. 


399 


Otto  Bungo-no-kami  was  a  thin,  spare  man,  with  a  shriveled 
face,  indicating  shrewdness,  and  I  should  have  guessed  parsimony. 
His  colleague  was  heavier-looking,  and  without  any  marked  ex¬ 
pression.  They  opened  the  conversation  by  manifesting  some 
anxiety  about  the  yacht,  and  wished  to  know  at  what  period  his 
excellency  intended  to  make  it  over  to  the  Japanese  government. 
Lord  Elgin  assured  them  that  its  delivery  should  take  place  im¬ 
mediately  on  the  signing  of  the  treaty.  After  a  somewhat  pro¬ 
longed  discussion  on  the  subject  of  full  powers,  so  difficult  of  com¬ 
prehension  to  the  Eastern  mind,  it  was  arranged  that  the  inter¬ 
change  should  take  place  on  the  following  day. 

While  this  was  going  on,  a  train  of  youths  entered,  bearing  pipes 
and  tea.  They  were  all  dressed  simply  and  uniformly ;  indeed, 
so  exactly  did  they  resemble  one  another,  that  they  must  have 
been  selected  as  good  matches.  They  entered  with  an  air  of  pro¬ 
found  respect,  the  head  slightly  bent,  the  eyes  fixed  on  the  ground, 
and  moved  with  a  shuffling  gait,  as  though  afraid  to  lift  their  feet 
from  the  floor. 

During  the  period  of  our  visit  these  young  men  were  constant¬ 
ly  coming  in  with  refreshments,  and  as  they  never  looked  up,  it 
was  always  a  matter  of  wonder  to  me  how  they  found  their  way, 
while  the  monotonous  regularity  of  their  movements  was  quite 
painful.  Notwithstanding  which,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the 
manners  of  flunkies  in  Japan  are  infinitely  more  agreeable  than 
those  of  the  same  race  in  our  own  country. 

After  the  ordinary  tea,  we  were  supplied  with  a  beverage  pe¬ 
culiar  to  the  upper  classes  of  Japan  :  this  consists  of  a  sort  of  jpuree 
made  of  the  tea-leaves  themselves.  They  are  first  stewed,  then 
dried  and  ground  in  a  hand-mill  into  a  powder ;  this  is  mixed 
with  hot  water  and  whipped  with  a  split  bamboo  until  it  creams. 
It  is  served  up  hot,  and  looks  like  physic.  Altogether,  I  thought 
it  more  palatable  than  senna.  This  delicacy  is  called  koitscha/or 
thick  tea ;  it  was  succeeded  by  a  number  of  small  square  wooden 
boxes  on  little  stands ;  they  were  rather  like  toy -boxes,  and  might 
be  supposed  to  contain  some  description  of  game.  W e  each  had 
one  of  these  to  ourselves.  When  the  lids  were  removed,  we  dis¬ 
covered  a  very  tempting  assortment  of  barley-sugar,  sponge-cakes, 
Gibraltar  rock,  and  other  confectionery,  not  to  be  distinguished  in 
taste  from  the  manufactures  of  our  own  country,  except  by  school¬ 
boys  or  those  really  versed  in  the  subject.  We  were  not  only 


400 


SHOPPING  IN  YEDO. 


supposed  to  nibble  at  these  sweetmeats  during  the  visit,  but  the 
boxes,  with  all  that  remained  in  them,  were  sent  after  us  to  our 
abode,  so  that  we  were  enabled,  for  some  days  afterward,  to  retire 
to  the  privacy  of  our  chambers  whenever  we  felt  moved,  and  feast 
in  secrecy  upon  their  luscious  contents.  Our  audience  having  at 
last  come  to  an  end,  we  took  leave  with  many  profound  bows  and 
polite  speeches,  and  returned  to  our  norimons,  our  companions 
having  in  the  mean  time  been  feasted  with  tea  and  sweetmeats  in 
an  adjoining  room. 

I  was  not  sorry  for  the  opportunity  of  passing  through  the  streets 
of  Yedo  by  night.  The  effect  of  our  procession  was  very  pictur¬ 
esque.  In  addition  to  the  jingling  police,  we  were  accompanied 
by  men  bearing  on  high  huge  lanterns  attached  to  poles. 

Pretty  lamps,  painted  in  bright  colors  and  covered  with  quaint 
devices,  hung  in  clusters  over  the  shops,  illuminated  the  bath¬ 
houses,  flared  over  street-stalls,  or  depended  from  ropes  slung 
across  the  side-streets.  As  the  crowd  seemed  even  more  dense 
than  in  the  daytime,  the  brilliant  glare  lit  up  their  eager,  curious 
faces  and  half-clad  figures,  and  imparted  a  wild,  uncouth  aspect  to 
the  scene.  It  was  nearly  ten  o’clock  at  night  before  we  reached 
home,  and  we  had  as  yet  no  reason  to  reproach  ourselves  with 
idleness  or  inactivity. 

The  representations  which  we  had  frequently  made  to  our  friend 
and  guardian  Tainoske,  and  the  avidity  which  we  manifested  in 
the  purchase  of  all  Japanese  articles  of  manufacture,  induced  that 
worthy  to  collect  for  our  benefit,  every  morning,  a  number  of  ven¬ 
dors  of  lacker,  china,  and  embroidery,  who  used  to  spread,  their 
wares  in  our  verandas ;  so  that,  during  the  earlier  part  of  the  day, 
they  assumed  somewhat  the  appearance  of  a  bazar.  In  the  enjoy¬ 
ment  of  this  extravagant  amusement,  our  mornings  used  to  fly 
rapidly.  Each  box  contained  some  specimen  we  had  not  yet  seen. 
The  china,  in  particular,  was  an  endless  source  of  interest,  from  the 
variety  of  patterns  and  devices  which  it  presented.  On  some  of 
the  cups  were  raised  lacker  representations  of  pleasure-boats,  with 
tiny  windows,  on  opening  which  a  party  of  ladies  and  gentlemen 
drinking  tea  were  discovered  within,  all  on  the  minutest  possible 
scale.  At  the  bottom  of  other  cups,  a  tortoise,  beautifully  exe¬ 
cuted  in  china,  might  be  observed  placidly  reposing,  until  the  tea 
was  poured  in,  when  he  rose  to  the  surface  a  most  animated  rep¬ 
tile. 


\ 


OFFICIAL  VISIT  OF  COMMISSIONEES.  401 

But  the  taste  for  China  and  the  rage  for  lacker  were  nothing 
as  compared  to  the  mania  for  dogs.  The  dog  peculiar  to  Japan, 
and  which  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  origin  of  the  King 
Charles  spaniel,  does  indeed  bear  a  considerable  resemblance  to 
that  breed:  the  ears  are  not  so  long  and  silky,  and  the  nose  is 
more  of  a  pug ;  but  the  size,  shape,  and  color  of  the  body  are  al¬ 
most  identical.  The  face  is  by  no  means  attractive :  the  eyes  are 
usually  very  prominent,  as  though  starting  from  the  head ;  the 
forehead  is  overhanging,  and  the  nose  so  minute  that  it  forms 
rather  a  depression  than  a  projection  on  the  face;  the  jaw  is 
somewhat  prominent,  and  is  frequently  so  much  underhung  that 
the  mouth  can  not  be  shut,  in  consequence  of  which  the  tongue 
protrudes  in  a  waggish  manner,  at  variance  with  the  staring  eye, 
which  should,  for  the  sake  of  consistency,  be  slightly  closed,  with 
a  tendency  to  wink. 

When  the  great  majority  of  our  party  had  furnished  them¬ 
selves  with  three  or  four  of  these  prepossessing  animals  each, 
which  were  confined  in  kennels  formed  of  paper  screens  up  in 
our  loft,  the  consequences  to  an  unhappy  victim  like  myself,  who 
had  resisted  their  charms,  were  most  trying.  They  used  to  de¬ 
molish  their  paper  kennels  with  their  teeth,  quarrel  with  each 
other,  howl  dismally  during  the  still  hours  of  the  night,  or  have 
spasms.  They  were  subject  to  weakness  and  violent  cramp  in 
the  loins  and  hind  legs,  and  then  their  owners  used  to  devote  the 
small  hours  of  the  morning  to  fomenting  them  with  hot  water, 
and  wrapping  them  in  warm  flannels.  In  spite  of  all  their  efforts, 
some  of  these  delicate  little  creatures  died,  to  the  inexpressible 
grief  of  those  who  had  listened  so  often  to  their  nocturnal  winn¬ 
ings.  Even  in  Yedo,  the  price  of  a  handsome  pair  of  these  dogs 
is  as  much  as  fifty  or  sixty  dollars,  so  that  it  is  worth  while  to  sit 
up  at  night  to  alleviate  their  sufferings. 

In  accordance  with  the  arrangement  arrived  at  on  the  preceding 
day,  the  six  commissioners  appeared  a  little  before  luncheon,  in 
order  to  exhibit  their  full  powers,  and  enter  upon  the  prelimina¬ 
ries  of  the  treaty.  They  were  dressed  in  the  official  costume 
used  upon  state  occasions,  and  which  was  remarkable  for  its  sim¬ 
plicity.  The  fashion  and  color  of  their  garments  are  all  pre¬ 
scribed  by  a  rigid  code  of  official  etiquette.  A  pale  straw-color 
is  considered  full  dress ;  this,  combined  with  pale  or  dark  blue 
and  black,  are  the  orthodox  colors  on  state  occasions.  On  gala- 

Cc 


% 


402 


OFFICIAL  COSTUME. 


days  tlieir  costume  is  somewhat  more  gaudy  and  fantastic.  We 
had  an  opportunity,  before  leaving,  of  seeing  them  thus  attired ; 
on  their  ordinary  official  visits,  however,  they  wore  a  sort  of  un¬ 
dress  or  riding  costume.  This  differs  from  full  dress  in  the  cut 
of  the  trowsers,  which  admit  of  the  legs  being  widely  separated, 
an  impossible  achievement  in  their  best  clothes.  They  also,  in 
riding,  dispense  with  the  light  gauze  sort  of  habit  shirt,  which  is 
thrown  over  the  rest  of  the  costume,  and,  projecting  at  the  shoul¬ 
der  like  wings,  falls  in  long  bands  in  front.  In  formal  salutations, 
it  is  the  correct  thing  to  stoop  until  the  ends  of  these  bands  touch 
the  ground. 

The  Japanese  seldom  wear  any  thing  on  their  heads  except 
when  riding.  The  head  is  shaved  on  the  crown,  and  the  side  and 
back  hair  brought  forward  in  a  roll  about  the  thickness  of  a  small 
sausage  to  the  top  of  the  forehead;  here  it  is  firmly  gummed 
down  with  a  species  of  bandoline,  in  the  manufacture  of  which 
the  Japanese  are  very  proficient.  Wigs  are  common  in  the 

shops,  but  are  only  worn  as  a  part 
of  a  masquerade  dress.  Hot  a  parti¬ 
cle  of  hair  is  ever  allowed  to  appear 
on  their  faces.  The  winter  costume 
consists  in  robes  cut  like  dressing- 
gowns,  padded  throughout  with  silk 

casions,  and  are  a  standing  item  in 
the  list  of  imperial  presents  to  a  for¬ 
eign  mission.  But  the  most  singu¬ 
lar  portion  of  their  apparel  are  the 
a  Japanese  wig.  trowsers  which  they  wear  at  their 

audiences  with  the  Tycoon ;  they  seem  to  be  cut  upon  a  princi¬ 
ple  precisely  the  opposite  to  that  which  regulates  our  court-dress. 
We  consider  that  when  we  have  brought  our  nether  garments 
down  to  the  knee,  we  have  not  only  satisfied  decency,  but  reach¬ 
ed  the  highest  pitch  of  refinement  and  elegance.  The  great  ob¬ 
ject  of  the  Japanese  is  to  create  an  entire  misconception  in  the 
mind  of  the  spectator  as  to  the  situation  of  that  important  joint; 
he  wishes  it  to  be  supposed  that  he  shuffles  into  the  royal  pres¬ 
ence  on  his  knees  ;  but,  finding  that  process  attended  with  much 
practical  inconvenience,  he  compromises  the  matter  by  having  his 


wadding.  These  unwieldy  articles 
of  attire  are  also  used  upon  state  oc- 


THE  FIRST  DAY’S  CONFERENCE. 


405 


trowsers  made  about  eighteen  inches  longer  than  his  legs;  by 
these  means  his  feet  are  made  to  represent  his  knees,  and  he  is 
enabled  to  walk  upon  them  comfortably  with  his  sham  legs  drag¬ 
ging  after  him. 

The  commissioners  brought  us  the  intelligence  that,  the  Tycoon 
being  childless,  he  had  within  the  last  few  days  adopted  a  son. 
This  lad  was  to  be  his  successor ;  and  in  the  event  of  his  subse¬ 
quently  having  a  son  of  his  own,  he  would  be  compelled  to  give 
him  away  rather  than  dispossess  the  adopted  one.  The  choice  of 
adoption  is  confined  to  the  sons  of  six  of  the  princes  of  the  blood. 
What  amount  of  truth  there  was  in  this  information  we  had  not 
at  the  time  any  opportunity  of  judging. 

Before  proceeding  to  work,  our  guests  sat  down  with  great 
readiness  to  luncheon,  and  made  formidable  inroads  upon  the 
ham,  the  dish  of  all  others  which  they  most  highly  appreciate. 
They  also  indulged  freely  in  Champagne;  indeed,  so  conscious 
were  they  of  the  risk  attending  these  libations  preparatory  to  en^. 
tering  upon  business,  that  Higo  facetiously  expressed  a  hope  that 
the  Treaty  would  not  taste  of  ham  and  Champagne. 

After  luncheon  we  adjourned  to  Lord  Elgin’s  sitting-room, 
where  his  excellency  and  the  commissioners  seated  themselves 
round  the  table  and  mutually  exhibited  their  full  powers.  While 
some  necessary  details  involved  in  this  process  were  being  trans¬ 
acted,  Mr.  Bedwell  took  the  opportunity  of  making  the  accompa¬ 
nying  characteristic  and  truthful  drawing — a  fact  which  Higo  no 
sooner  remarked  than,  seizing  a  pencil  and  paper,  he  proceeded 
to  caricature  the  artist,  and  suddenly  interrupted  the  proceedings 
by  triumphantly  producing  &  very  fair  attempt  at  a  likeness. 

How  that  we  had  really  settled  down  to  work,  every  body 
lighted  a  pipe  or  a  cigar,  and  although,  as  regarded  from  a  red- 
tape  point  of  view,  the  general  aspect  of  the  scene  may  have  been 
somewhat  informal,  a  great  deal  of  business  was  accomplished.  It 
was  necessary,  however,  to  get  over  a  difficulty  in  the  first  in¬ 
stance,  arising  from  the  necessity  which  the  commissioners  felt  of 
^  being  watched.  It  was  an  unnatural  thing  for  them  to  transact 
business  except  in  the  presence  of  government  and  private  spies, 
so  they  formally  requested  that  a  certain  number  of  these  gentry 
should  be  allowed  to  be  present  during  the  conferences.  This 
was  of  course  objected  to  by  Lord  Elgin,  his  excellency  remark¬ 
ing  that  there  were  already  six  Japanese  commissioners  to  one 
English  minister,  and  that  any  farther  accession  of  force  on  the 


JOCOSITY  OF  HIGO-N O-KAMI. 


406 

other  side  would  be  manifestly  quite  unfair.  On  which  the  com¬ 
missioners  neatly  enough  replied  “that  it  did  indeed  take  six 
Japanese  heads  to  cope  with  such  an  English  head  as  they  saw 
before  them,  and  that,  in  fact,  they  felt  quite  unequal  to  the 
task.”  The  matter  was  ultimately  compromised  by  the  presence 
of  one  secretary  being  allowed  in  addition  to  the  indispensable 
Moriyama. 

We  were  now  able  to  enter  upon  the  body  of  the  treaty,  and 
very  soon  discovered  that  the  commissioners  manifested  the  great¬ 
est  acumen  in  the  discussion  of  points  of  detail,  never  resting  sat¬ 
isfied  until  they  thoroughly  comprehended  the  rationale  of  every 
question  raised.  Once,  indeed,  so  serious  a  difficulty  arose  that, 
to  create  a  diversion,  some  one  proposed  that  we  should  have 
some  cha  (tea),  upon  which  Lord  Elgin  suggested  cha -pagne,  an 
amendment  which  caused  infinite  merriment,  and  which  was  car¬ 
ried  by  acclamation.  The  Japanese  have  a  keen  appreciation  of 
the  ludicrous,  and  many  a  knotty  point  was  solved  by  bon  mot ; 
indeed,  to  judge  by  the  perpetual  laughter  in  which  they  indulge, 
they  are  forever  making  jokes.  Higo  was  the  wit  of  the  party, 
and  was  often,  in  consequence,  not  only  inattentive  himself,  but 
apt  to  distract  the  attention  of  the  others.  It  was  evident  in  the 
twinkle  of  his  eye  when  he  was  meditating  a  pun.  His  observa¬ 
tions,  nevertheless,  upon  business  matters,  whenever  he  conde¬ 
scended  to  make  them,  were  always  shrewd  and  to  the  point. 
The  following  are  the  names  of  the  six  commissioners,  as  written 
down  by  him  in  the  English  character  upon  a  fan  which  he  pre¬ 
sented  to  me.  The  spelling  is  his  own. 

1.  Midjmats-ko-goni-kami  (formerly  Governor  of  Nagasaki). 

2.  Nagai  Gembono-kami  (the  admiral). 

3.  Inogge  Sinanono-kami  (Governor  of  Simoda). 

4.  Iwase  Ilffio-no-kami. 

5.  Holi  Olibeno-kami. 

6.  Tsuda-handzoboro. 

The  admiral  was  the  most  intelligent  and  active  member  of 
the  party ;  and  when  he  and  the  ex-Governor  of  Nagasaki  were 
agreed  the  rest  seldom  failed  to  follow  their  lead. 

Altogether  we  had  every  reason  to  be  satisfied  with  the  result 
of  our  first  day’s  conference ;  it  inaugurated  a  series  of  meetings 
invariably  characterized  by  the  utmost  harmony  and  good-humor, 
and  which  must  recall  to  the  memory  of  those  who  participated  in 
them  many  agreeable  associations  and  pleasant  reminiscences. 


A  RIDIN G-P ART Y. 


407 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

A  Riding-party. — Beauty  of  the  Suburbs. — A  pleasant  Tea-house.  Tea-gardens  at 
Hojee. — A  picturesque  Picnic. — Internal  Arrangements  of  a  Tea-house. — A  Bath¬ 
ing-room. — Scenery  of  the  Interior  of  Japan. — The  Botanical  Gardens. — A  Visit 
to  the  Prime  Ministers. — The  Commissioners  at  Luncheon. — “The  Scoundrel.” 
— Schools  at  Yedo. — Linguistic  Acquirements  of  the  Japanese.  System  of  na¬ 
tional  Education. — Japanese  Literature. — The  Postage  System. — The  Japanese 
Language:  its  Construction. —Universal  use  of  Paper. — Ingenuity  of  the  Jap¬ 
anese. 

It  had  been  arranged  with  the  commissioners  that  Lord  Elgin 
should  make  a  trip  into  the  country  upon  the  day  following  the 
exchange  of  full  powers.  Our  destination  was  a  summer  resort 
about  ten  miles  distant,  called  Ilojee,  where  pretty  scenery,  botan¬ 
ical  gardens,  and  well-appointed  tea-houses  were  the  attractions. 
Accordingly,  immediately  after  breakfast  our  steeds  appeared  at 
the  door,  and  we  started  off,  a  party  of  eight  or  ten,  in  that  enjoy¬ 
able  frame  of  mind  which  is  produced  by  pleasurable  anticipa¬ 
tions.  For  the  first  four  or  five  miles  our  way  led  us  through  the 
town,  along  the  castle  moat,  past  the  point  at  which  we  again  ob¬ 
tained  a  panoramic  view  of  the  city,  and  on  through  more  wind¬ 
ing  streets,  which  we  had  not  before  explored,  and  which  seemed 
interminable.  At  last  we  got  clear  of  the  more  crowded  thorough¬ 
fares,  and  found  ourselves  traversing  pleasant  suburban  lanes, 
passing  the  spacious  palace  of  the  most  powerful  prince  in  the 
empire,  Kagano-kami.  The  outer  walls  of  this  establishment  in¬ 
close  an  immense  area  of  ground,  and  contain  buildings  which  are 
said  to  afford  accommodation  to  ten  thousand  men.  The  groves 
of  lofty  trees  which  towered  above  the  walls  gave  token  of  the 
beauty  of  the  gardens  within  them.  Many  of  the  streets  and 
roads  which  we  traversed  were  lined  with  peach  and  plum  trees ; 
at  the  period  of  the  year  when  these  are  in  full  blossom,  they 
must  form  a  most  charming  and  fragrant  avenue. 

We  were  filled  with  astonishment  and  delight  at  the  exquisite 
taste  displayed  in  the  gardens  and  cottages  upon  the  roadside. 
Xo  model  estate  in  England  can  produce  “cottages  orne^s”  com¬ 
parable  to  those  which  adorn  the  suburbs  of  Yedo.  We  always 


408 


BEAUTY  OF  THE  SUBURBS. 


fail  in  our  detail ;  there  is  a  want  of  that  minuteness  which  the 
Chinaman  glories  in  until  he  becomes  grotesque.  The  Japanese 
have  hit  the  happy  medium.  With  an  elaborate  delicacy  of  de¬ 
tail,  they  combine  the  art  of  generalization  in  design,  so  that  the 
relation  of  the  parts  with  the  whole  is  maintained  throughout, 
and  the  general  effect  is  not  sacrificed  to  minor  beauties.  These 
charming  little  cottages,  raising  their  thatched  roofs  amid  the 
fruit-trees  and  creepers  which  threatened  to  smother  them  in 
their  embraces,  were  surrounded  by  flower-beds  tastefully  laid 
out,  resplendent  with  brilliant  hues,  and  approached  by  walks 
between  carefully-clipped  hedges.  Yew-trees,  cut  into  fantastic 
shapes,  and  dwarfed  trees,  extending  their  deformed  arms  as  if  for 
assistance  and  support,  are  favorite  garden  ornaments.  Here  and 
there,  at  the  end  of  a  long  avenue,  we  could  discern  a  temple  em¬ 
bowered  amid  trees ;  and  ancient  priests  in  gauzy  and  transparent 
costume,  with  broad  embroidered  belts  and  sashes,  and  enormous 
lackered  hats,  would  hurry  to  the  entrance  to  see  the  strangers 
pass.  The  beauty  of  the  cemeteries  was  in  keeping  with  the  taste 
displayed  in  every  thing  else ;  here  walks  wound  amid  flowering 
shrubs  and  drooping  cypresses. 

We  could  always  judge  of  the  respectability  of  the  quarter 
through  which  we  passed  by  the  size  and  character  of  the  crowd 
which  accompanied  us.  In  some  parts  of  the  suburb  we  were 
followed  by  a  noisy  mob,  who  pressed  upon  us  cheering  and 
laughing — not,  however,  showing  any  signs  of  ill-will.  Some  of 
our  party,  on  the  previous  day,  not  attended  by  a  sufficiently 
large  body  of  policemen  to  inspire  awe,  passing  through  some  of 
the  less  reputable  parts  of  the  town,  had  been  hooted,  and  even 
pelted,  the  crowd  calling  out,  “Chinamen,  Chinamen!  have  you 
any  thing  to  sell?”  a  circumstance  for  which  the  commissioners 
never  ceased  apologizing,  while  they  took  occasion  to  impress 
upon  us  the  necessity,  which  we  were  always  anxious  to  forget, 
of  never  moving  about  unless  accompanied  by  a  proper  staff  of 
police.  Upon  this  occasion  we  were  attended  by  twenty  officials, 
in  a  black  gauze  uniform,  who  marched  in  front  of  us.  As  we 
were  desirous  not  to  lose  time,  and  our  steeds  were  willing,  some 
of  the  elder  members  of  this  party  were  knocked  up  before  we 
got  to  the  half-way  tea-house,  where  we  changed  our  escort. 

As  wb  got  farther  from  town  the  cottages  became  more  scatter¬ 
ed,  but  the  country  did  not  lose  its  air  of  civilization.  Groves  of 


* 

' 

• 

* 

* 

Tea-garden  near  Yedo, 


A  PLEASANT  TEA-HOUSE. 


411 


tall  trees  overshadowed  the  road,  apparently  bordering  some  or¬ 
namental  grounds,  for  they  were  inclosed  by  palings  exactly  re¬ 
sembling  those  of  our  own  parks. 

The  tea-house  at  which  we  stopped  to  rest  was  situated  in  a 
garden  where  sparkling  water  gushed  out  of  mossy  grottoes,  and 
quilted  mats  invited  to  repose.  Here  pipes  and  tea  were  served 
by  fair  damsels,  who  also  pressed  upon  our  acceptance  unripe 
pears.  Beyond  this  tea-house  we  found  ourselves  fairly  in  the 
country ;  we  had  exchanged  the  suburbs  of  London  for  the  lanes 
of  Devonshire. 

Although  the  country  was  undulating,  the  road  was  neither 
too  steep  nor  too  narrow  for  wheeled  vehicles.  Sometimes  it 
passed  between  high  banks  crowned  with  hedgerows  and  shrubs, 
among  which  I  observed  the  holly.  With  the  exception  of  groves 
of  trees,  left  doubtless  for  a  special  purpose,  and  which  served  to 
diversify  the  prospect,  every  acre  of  ground  seemed  cultivated. 
This  is  probably  partly  in  consequence  of  a  law  compelling  every 
man  to  cultivate  his  land  within  the  year,  upon  pain  of  forfeiting 
it.  Fields  of  yams  and  egg-plant  or  brinjall,  of  beans  and  Indian- 
corn,  millet  and  onions,  alternated  with  each  other  in  rapid  suc¬ 
cession.  At  every  clump  of  trees  through  which  the  road  passed 
were  resting-places  for  all  classes  of  travelers — simple  benches 
under  the  gnarled  branches  of  some  venerable  oak  or  plane  tree 
for  humble  wayfarers,  and  little  tables  with  fruit  and  tea  set  out 
in  the  cool  shade ;  or  summer-houses,  composed  of  a  single  hut, 
with  the  same  invariable  beverage  hot  and  ready  to  refresh  the 
thirst  of  the  weary  pedestrian ;  or  an  establishment  of  greater  pre¬ 
tensions,  where  men  of  rank  might  stay  and  rest. 

At  last  we  suddenly  descended  into  a  dell  where  a  charming 
village  lay  embosomed  in  a  wood.  It  consisted  of  a  few  cottages> 
and  a  tea-house  on  a  grand  scale.  At  the  entrance  to  this  estab¬ 
lishment  we  dismounted,  much  to  the  edification  of  the  whole 
population  of  the  village,  who  assembled  to  stare  and  wonder  at 
us.  We  found  the  tea-house  situated  on  the  edge  of  a  brawling 
stream,  the  balconies  of  the  upper  rooms  overhanging  the  water. 
Hanging  woods  and  gardens,  tastefully  laid  out  with  rock- work, 
and  yew-trees  cut  into  quaint  shapes,  fringed  the  bank  of  the 
river,  to  the  point  at  which  it  entered  the  grounds  in  a  picturesque 
cascade.  Taking  possession  of  .a  summer-house  perched  on  a 
projecting  point,  and  which  commanded  a  charming  view  of  the 


412 


INTERNAL  ARRANGEMENTS  OF  A  TEA-HOUSE. 


surrounding  objects,  we  signified  to  a  group  of  young  ladies,  who 
came  to  look  at  us  under  the  pretext  of  waiting  for  orders,  our 
desire  to  be  furnished  with  some  luncheon. 

We  were  not  kept  long  in  waiting  for  our  meal,  which  consist¬ 
ed  of  some  excellent  vegetable  soup,  and  some  rice  and  fish.  By. 
way  of  dessert  we  had  marshmelons,  apricots,  and  pears,  so  that 
we  had  no  difficulty  in  satisfying  the  cravings  of  hunger.  We 
found  that  these  gardens  were  a  favorite  resort  of  pleasure-parties 
from  Yedo  of  the  highest  rank.  When  any  grandee  wishes  to 
enjoy  a  domestic  treat  of  this  sort,  accompanied  by  his  wife  and 
family,  he  gives  a  previous  notice  of  his  intention  to  the  keeper 
of  the  tea-house,  so  that  a  dignified  privacy  may  be  secured  to 
him.  There,  screened  from  the  vulgar  gaze,  he  and  his  compan¬ 
ions  give  themselves  up  to  the  enjoyment  which  this  species  of 
recreation  affords.  Their  wives  play,  dance,  or  sing  for  their  ben¬ 
efit;  in  fact,  so  far  as  I  could  gather,  they  behave  very  much  as 
we  do  when  we  are  working  off  the  fag-end  of  the  season  in  pic¬ 
nics  to  the  Star  and  Garter,  or  Hampton  Court.  I  was  not  able 
to  discover,  however,  under  what  conditions  the  unmarried  mem¬ 
bers  of  society  were  allowed  to  partake  of  these  amusements. 

If  any  aristocratic  picnic  was  going  on  during  our  visit  to  Ho- 
jee,  we  were  not  fortunate  enough  to  get  a  glimpse  of  it.  We 
did,  nevertheless,  explore  the  internal  economy  of  the  establish¬ 
ment.  Unfortunately,  it  not  being  the  custom  for  the  guests  to 
go  into  the  kitchen,  I  was  ignominiously  expelled  from  that  de¬ 
partment  just  as  I  was  commencing  my  investigations  into  the  ar¬ 
rangements  by  which  so  large  a  number  of  guests  were  kept  con¬ 
stantly  supplied  with  every  description  of  Japanese  delicacy,  and 
tea  in  rivers.  I  had  only  time  to  find  myself  encompassed  by  a 
bevy  of  active,  bustling  waitresses,  and  to  catch  sight  of  huge 
steaming  caldrons,  when  a  strong-minded  old  woman  showed  me 
the  door  with  a  soup-ladle.  The  accompanying  illustration,  taken 
on  the  spot  by  Mr.  Bedwell,  will  convey  a  better  idea  than  any 
description  of  the  interior  of  the  public  rooms,  and  of  the  costume 
of  the  attendants.  The  complexions  of  many  of  these  girls  were 
quite  as  fair  as  those  of  our  own  countrywomen.  In  waiting, 
their  manners  are  graceful  and  respectful.  Almost  every  thing 
is  served  in  lacker,  and  is  presented  in  a  reverential  attitude. 
The  guests  sit  dotted  about  on  the  mat  till  they  have  done  dinner, 
when  they  lie  down  to  smoke,  sip  tea,  and  digest.  According  to 


Interior  of  Tea-gardens. 


A  BATHING-ROOM. 


415 


Grolownin,  the  varnish  with  which  the  lacker  is  composed  is  poi¬ 
son.  Not  only  is  it  perfectly  free  from  any  injurious  effect  on 
this  account,  but,  although  the  hottest  tea  may  be  served  in  lack¬ 
er  cups,  it  is  impossible  to  detect  the  slightest  flavor  of  the  var¬ 
nish. 

Whether  the  tea  of  Japan  is  actually  superior  to  that  of  China, 
or  only  prepared  in  a  different  way,  I  had  no  opportunity  of 
judging;  but  the  flavor  struck  me  as  much  more  delicate.  Ac¬ 
cording  to  Siebold,  the  plant  is  manured  with  dried  anchovies, 
and  a  liquor  pressed  out  of  mustard-seed. 

One  method  of  preparing  the  tea  is  by  keeping  it  constantly 
boiling.  Enough  of  tea  leaves  are  put  into  the  kettle  for  the 
day’s  consumption,  and  the  decoction  is  never  taken  off  the  fire. 
This  is,  however,  generally  only  used  at  wayside  refreshment- 
houses. 

We  did  not  observe  any  of  it  growing,  as  it  is  said  that  the 
plantations  are  generally  remote  from  the  habitations  of  men,  lest 
they  should  be  injured  by  smoke,  or  any  other  deleterious  emana¬ 
tions. 


A  Japanese  Bath. 


Attached  to  the  tea-house  was  a  bathing-room  containing  a  sin¬ 
gular  oval  depression  in  the  floor,  to  which  the  bathers  confine 
themselves  during  their  ablutions,  as  outlets  are  constructed  for 


416 


SCENERY  OF  THE  INTERIOR  OF  JAPAN., 


the  escape  of  the  water.  Hot  water  is  abundantly  provided, 
while  the  cold  flowed  in  a  perpetual  cascade  from  a  green  grotto 
in  the  wall. 

Leaving  Hojee,  we  rode  up  to  the  brow  of  the  hill  behind  the 
village.  To  do  so  it  was  necessary  to  diverge  from  the  high 
road,  and  gallop  across  a  greensward  dotted  with  handsome  park¬ 
like  trees.  Our  attendants,  not  prepared  for  this  sudden  escapade, 
ran  breathlessly  after  us,  vehemently  remonstrating,  and  passing 
their  hand  across  their  throats,  as  an  indication  that  our  transgres¬ 
sion  would  be  visited  upon  them  with  summary  punishment ;  but 
our  curiosity  to  obtain  a  view  from  our  elevated  position  over¬ 
came  our  scruples  on  their  account,  and  we  were  well  repaid  for 
our  want  of  humanity.  The  prospect  upon  which  we  feasted  our 
gaze  more  nearly  resembled  that  from  Richmond  Hill  than  any 
other  with  which  I  am  acquainted.  Beneath  us  was  a  winding 
river,  now  hidden  among  thick  woods,  now  shining  in  the  broad 
light  of  day  as  it  emerged  upon  grassy  fields.  Beyond,  as  far  as 
the  eye  could  reach,  the  country  was  richly  cultivated  and  charm¬ 
ingly  diversified,  while  here  and  there  the  smoke  of  a  town  or 
hamlet  imparted  an  air  of  animation  to  the  view.  It  was  a  most 
tantalizing  sight,  and  we  longed  to  explore  the  unknown  scenes 
which  lie  still  unvisited  in  the  heart  of  this  magnificent  country. 

It  is  some  consolation  to  know  that  the  interior  of  Japan  will  in 
all  probability,  ere  long,  be  laid  ojoen.  By  the  late  treaty  it  is  re¬ 
served  to  the  consul  general  and  his  immediate  staff,  and  to  them 
alone,  to  travel  to  any  part  of  the  empire.  We  know,  from  the 
accounts  of  the  Jesuits  and  the  Butch  missions,  how  many  objects 
of  interest  there  are  at  Miako,  and  other  places  upon  the  main  route 
to  Nagasaki,  but  our  curiosity  has  been  chiefly  stimulated  by  the 
illustrations  contained  in  the  Japanese  picture-books  of  the  most 
striking  features  in  their  scenery.  The  Japanese  are  one  of  the 
few  so-called  uncivilized  nations  who  really  seem  to  have  an  intui¬ 
tive  appreciation  of  the  picturesque.  Even  the  Chinese,  who  oc¬ 
casionally  venture  upon  representations  of  scenery,  choose  some 
uninteresting  subject,  and  invariably  make  it  subservient  to  a 
scene  of  domestic  or  military  life  in  the  foreground,  displaying, 
moreover,  an  entire  ignorance  of  perspective ;  but  the  Japanese 
portray  the  grandest  scenic  features  of  their  country  evidently  for 
their  own  sake  alone.  Waterfalls  and  precipices,  picturesque  vil¬ 
lages  perched  on  overhanging  cliffs,  or  rocky  ledges  running  out 


THE  BOTANICAL  GARDENS. 


417 


* 


into  the  sea,  are  favorite  subjects,  and  executed  with  a  much  more 
correct  notion  of  art  than  has  been  attained  in  the  sister  empire. 
From  the  views  which  many  of  these  books  contain,  there  must 
be  scenery  in  Japan  worth  a  pilgrimage  to  that  distant  island, 
were  it  for  no  other  purpose  but  to  visit  it.  Even  our  followers 
seemed  to  think  it  natural  that  we  should  wish  to  linger  on  the 
green  edge  of  the  hill,  to  take  a  long  last  look  at  the  widespread 
prospect  before  us,  but  they  were  evidently  relieved  when  we 
slowly  turned  our  horses’  heads  into  the  narrow  path  which  was 
to  lead  us  to  the  botanical  gardens. 

A  thick  grove  of  overhanging  trees  afforded  a  grateful  shade 
from  the  rays  of  the  August  sun,  while  little  wicket-gates  opened 
off  it  into  gardens  that  formed  a  setting  of  flowers  to  the  cottages 
in  their  midst.  The  botanical  gardens  themselves  did  not  exact¬ 
ly  correspond  to  our  notions  on  the  subject.  There  were  neither 
fine  old  trees  in  great  variety,  nor  a  large  and  curious  collection 
of  all  descriptions  of  plants.  The  rage  of  horticulturists  in  this 
country  seemed  to  be  grasses,  mosses,  and  ferns  of  all  sorts,  added 
to  which  there  was  an  extensive  assortment  of  dwarfed  trees.  In¬ 
stead  of  glass  green -houses,  there  were  long  mat-sheds  for  the  more 
delicate  specimens ;  while  ranged  upon  stands,  as  in  England, 
were  quantities  of  porcelain  pots  of  various  shapes  and  colors,  but 
generally  blue,  with  a  piece  of  rock  in  the  centre,  and  a  root  of 
grass  or  moss  growing  round  it.  But  a  Japanese  gardener  chiefly 
prides  himself  upon  his  skill  in  dwarfing.  The  most  venerable 
forest-trees  may  here  be  seen  in  flower-pots,  their  old  stems,  gnarl¬ 
ed  and  twisted  as  if  writhing  under  the  torture  of  distortion,  per¬ 
haps  scarce  two  feet  high,  while  their  unnatural  branches  spread 
out  laterally  like  the  fingers  of  a  deformed  hand.  One  of  the 
Dutch  factory  told  a  story  of  a  box  three  inches  long  by  two 
broad,  containing  a  fir-tree,  a  bamboo,  and  a  plum-tree  in  full 
blossom,  which  was  sold  for  a  sum  equal  to  twelve  hundred  dol¬ 
lars.  There  was  a  pine  wood  behind  the  gardens,  with  some 
pleasant  retreats  in  it,  and  artificial  hillocks  crowned  with  sum¬ 
mer-houses.  These  gardens  are  also  a  very  favorite  resort  for  pic¬ 
nics  from  Yedo. 

Once  more  swinging  ourselves  into  our  uncomfortable  saddles, 
we  jogged  home,  a  weary  three  hours’  ride  ;  but  we  had  been  am¬ 
ply  repaid  for  our  fatigue  by  the  novelty  and  interest  of  the  day’s 
experiences. 

D  D 


418 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  PRIME  MINISTERS.  * 


On  the  following  morning  we  paid  another  visit  to  the  chief 
ministers  of  state,  as  Lord  Elgin  wished  to  make  farther  arrange¬ 
ments  with  reference  to  the  delivery  of  the  yacht,  and  to  introduce 
Captains  Barker  and  Osborn,  and  Commander  Ward,  in  whose 
charge  she  had  come  out  from  England.  The  ceremony  differed 
in  no  respect  from  that  of  the  previous  occasion,  except  that  it 
took  place  in  the  daytime.  The  ministers  were  anxious  to  know 
the  difference  between  a  nHn-of-war  and  a  yacht ;  and  then  there 
was  some  discussion  as  to  the  salute  which  should  be  fired  by  the 
Japanese,  they  having  never,  upon  any  previous  occasion,  saluted 
a  foreign  flag.  The  ministers  took  the  opportunity  of  expressing, 
on  behalf  of  the  Tycoon,  his  regret  at  not  being  able  to  see  Lord 
Elgin,  but  it  was  suggested  that  his  excellency  might  have  an  au¬ 
dience  with  his  son,  a  lad  of  thirteen  years  of  age.  This  proposal 
Lord  Elgin  did  not  deem  it  expedient  to  accept. 

We  reached  home  just  in  time  to  receive  the  commissioners  for 
luncheon.  They  expressed  themselves  extremely  embarrassed  at 
always  arriving  at  our  luncheon  hour — “they  really  could  not 
think  of  partaking  of  any  to-day — it  would  seem  so  very  much  as 
if  they  had  come  for  ham  and  Champagne.”  Lord  Elgin,  how¬ 
ever,  answered  them  that  no  such  suspicion  had  ever  entered  his 
head ;  and  that,  unless  the  proper  amount  of  ham  and  Champagne 
had  been  consumed,  it  would  be  impossible  to  proceed  with  the 
treaty.  This  argument  seemed  at  once  to  decide  them ;  and  they 
had  evidently  fasted  carefully,  in  order  to  a  more  thorough  appre¬ 
ciation  of  the  meal  they  pretended  to  repudiate.  After  luncheon 
we  had  no  difficulty  in  getting  through  fifteen  articles,  by  which 
Moriyama  was  the  only  sufferer,  for  he  was  engaged  in  making 
duplicate  copies  in  Japanese  and  Dutch.  One  day  Lord  Elgin 
asked  him  whether  he  had  nearly  finished  copying  the  treaty ; 
but  Moriyama  was  too  good  an  interpreter  to  give  a  direct  answer 
to  any  question  in  the  presence  of  his  superiors ;  so,  turning  to  the 
commissioners,  he  asked  them,  “  Has  Moriyama  nearly  finished 
copying  the  treaty?”  Upon  which  they  gravely  replied,  after 
consultation  with  him,  “  No,  Moriyama  has  not  yet  finished  copy¬ 
ing  the  treaty,  but  he  is  getting  on  with  it  as  fast  as  he  can.” 
When  an  inferior  in  Japan  is  in  conversation  with  a  superior,  the 
correct  posture  for  the  former  is  to  rest  his  hands  upon  his  knees 
and  remain  slightly  stooping — practically,  this  is  abbreviated  into 
a  rapid  slipping  of  the  hand  down  the  thigh  to  the  knee,  a  gesture 


“THE  SCOUNDREL.”— SCHOOLS  AT  YEDO. 


419 


which  Moriyama  used  constantly  to  perform,  accompanying  it 
with  a  noisy  inhalation  of  the  breath,  as  if  he  had  just  sucked  a 
sherry-cobbler  through  a  quill,  and  was  relishing  it  still. 

But  we  made  another  acquaintance  at  Yedo  even  more  note¬ 
worthy  than  Moriyama.  He  was  popularly  known  as  “the 
Scoundrel,”  but  his  real  name  was  Tanjeram.  This  man  appear¬ 
ed  in  our  garden  one  evening,  and  astonished  us  all  by  speaking 
English  without  any  perceptible  accent,  using  very  long  words, 
and  informed  us  that  he  was  in  the  habit  of  taking  lunar  observ¬ 
ations.  He  farther  asserted  that  he  had  never  been  out  of  Japan 
in  his  life,  and  that  he  acquired  his  knowledge  of  the  English  lan¬ 
guage  at  a  school  at  Yedo.  This  school  he  described  as  being  at¬ 
tended  by  Japanese  desirous  of  learning  foreign  languages,  which 
they  were  taught  by  professors,  who  had  qualified  themselves  by 
study  for  the  purpose.  With  all  our  respect  for  the  intelligence 
and  advancement  of  the  Japanese,  this  was  rather  more  than  we 
could  accept,  and  we  could  gain  no  corroborative  testimony  .on  the 
subject,  so  that  I  have  no  doubt  it  was  a  pure  piece  of  invention 
on  the  part  of  Tanjeram,  who  had  evidently,  by  some  accident  or 
other,  passed  some  years  of  his  life  in  the  United  States.  He 
stoutly  denied  that  such  was  the  case,  and  he  spoke  with  a  slight 
nasal  twang,  making  use  of  expressions  which  he  certainly  must 
have  acquired  from  a  professor  who  had  studied  the  “American” 
and  not  the  English  language.  The  expression  of  his  face  was 
totally  different  from  that  of  any  other  Japanese  I  ever  saw. 
There  was  a  mixture  of  cunning  and  insolence  in  his  manner  for¬ 
eign  to  the  nature  of  his  countrymen,  and  which  indisputably 
proved  that  he  had  lived  long  enough  abroad  to  substitute  the 
manners  of  Western  civilization  for  those  of  Japanese  barbarism. 

But,  although  we  took  leave  to  doubt  the  existence  of  profess¬ 
ors  of  European  languages  at  Yedo,  there  is  no  question  about  the 
advanced  state  of  education,  and  its  wide  diffusion  throughout  the 
empire.  Dutch  is  certainly  taught  at  Yedo  as  well  as  at  Nagasa¬ 
ki  ;  and  pupils  who  have  studied  the  latest  mechanical  and  scien¬ 
tific  inventions  at  the  latter  place  under  the  Dutch,  come  to  the 
capital  as  teachers.  Thus  they  are  competent  to  manage  their 
own  steam-engines,  and  to  navigate  their  own  ships,  working  their 
course  by  observation.  They  are  extremely  sensitive  at  being 
supposed  incapable  of  acquiring  any  branch  of  knowledge  which 
is  possessed  by  others,  and  have  a  very  high  estimate  of  their 


420  LINGUISTIC  ACQUIREMENTS  OF  THE  JAPANESE. 


powers  in  this  respect.  This  was  amusingly  illustrated  in  a  dis¬ 
cussion  which  took  place  as  to  the  language  which  should  here¬ 
after  be  the  medium  of  official  correspondence.  “Oh,”  said  one 
of  the  commissioners,  “you  had  better  make  English  the  official 
language  ;  there  is  no  telling  how  long  it  will  be  before  you  will 
be  able  to  write  a  dispatch  in  Japanese ;  but  give  us  five  years, 
and  we  shall  be  quite  competent  to  correspond  with  you  in  En¬ 
glish.”  This  affords  a  striking  contrast  to  our  experience  at  Tien¬ 
tsin,  where  we  found  such  difficulty  in  inducing  the  Chinese  to 
accept  the  English  as  the  official  language,  even  as  a  prospective 
arrangement — one,  indeed,  which  I  have  little  hope  of  ever  seeing 
carried  out ;  for,  even  if  a  Chinaman  could  be  induced  to  study  a 
foreign  language,  he  is  so  utterly  destitute  by  nature  of  the  facul¬ 
ty  of  acquiring  any  tongue  but  his  own  that  a  lifetime  would  be 
spent  in  the  vain  attempt.  During  the  whole  period  of  my  stay 
in  China  I  did  not  meet  a  single  native  who  could  speak,  read, 
and  write  English  correctly. 

In  Japan,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  a  rage  for  the  acquisition 
of  every  description  of  knowledge.  A  Chinaman  thinks  that  any 
study  but  that  of  the  Confucian  books  is  degrading,  and  treats 
every  modern  invention  with  an  air  of  calm  contempt.  Probably 
he  contends  that  the  art  has  long  been  known  in  China ;  so  that 
if  you  were  to  show  him  a  railway,  he  would  most  likely  say, 
“  Hab  got  alo  same  that  Pekin  side,  only  two  tim  more  chop  chop 
can  go.”*  A  Japanese,  on  the  other  hand,  is  full  of  zeal  and  cu¬ 
riosity.  He  examines  and  asks  questions  about  every  thing  with¬ 
in  his  reach,  carefully  noting  the  answers. 

P&re  Charlevoix  says  that  in  the  time  of  Xavier  there  were  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Miako  four  academies,  at  each  of  which  edu¬ 
cation  was  afforded  to  between  three  and  four  thousand  pupils, 
adding  that,  considerable  as  these  numbers  were,  they  were  quite 
insignificant  in  -comparison  with  the  numbers  instructed  near  the 
city  of  Bandone,  and  that  such  institutions  were  universal  through¬ 
out  the  empire.  Mr.  Macfarlane,  quoting  from  M.  Meylan,  a  more 
recent  authority,  states  that  children  of  both  sexes  and  of  all  ranks 
are  invariably  sent  to  rudimentary  schools,  where  they  learn  to 
read  and  write,  and  are  initiated  into  some  knowledge  of  the  his¬ 
tory  of  their  own  country.  To  this  extent,  at  least,  it  is  consider¬ 
ed  necessary  that  the  meanest  peasant  should  be  educated. 

*  Anglice — We  have  got  the  same  at  Pekin,  only  it  goes  twice  as  quickly. 


JAPANESE  LITERATURE. 


421 


From  this  account,  which  was  corroborated  by  all  I  could  gather 
upon  the  subject,  it  will  appear  that  a  more  widely-diffused  sys¬ 
tem  of  national  education  exists  in  Japan  than  in  our  own  coun¬ 
try,  and  that  in  that  respect,  at  all  events,  if  in  no  other,  they  are 
decidedly  in  advance  of  us.  Often  in  passing  along  the  streets  I 
heard  the  pleasant  babble  of  children  learning  their  lessons. 

Closely  connected  with  this  subject  is  that  of  the  literature  of 
the  country ;  but  upon  this  head  it  was  difficult  to  collect  inform¬ 
ation — still  more  so  to  obtain  books.  Although  book-stalls 
were  numerous,  and  their  contents  were  temptingly  displayed 
toward  the  street,  whenever  we  approached  one  a  general  scram¬ 
ble  invariably  took  place  to  secure  the  contents.  It  was  evident 
that  a  government  order  had  been  issued  not  to  sell  books  to  the 
strangers ;  and  although  our  attendants  used  to  pretend  to  assist 
us  in  procuring  them,  we  used  to  discover  them  secretly  abetting 
the  shop-keepers.  Once  when  I  seized  a  great  prize — a  map  of  a 
province  in  the  empire — it  was  snatched  from  me  by  an  old  lady 
who  had  the  fear  of  government  very  vividly  before  her  eyes,  so 
that  I  only  carried  off  a  small  fragment.  Still,  by  soft  speeches 
and  perseverance,  we  managed  to  pick  up  a  good  many  picture- 


422 


JAPANESE  LITERATURE. 


books.  One  of  these,  illustrative  of  various  trades  in  Japan,  was 
a  most  interesting  study.  The  preceding  wood-cut  gives  some 
idea  of  the  graphic  character  of  the  dra  wings.  Most  of  the  books 
which  I  obtained,  written  in  Japanese,  were  of  little  use,  as  no¬ 
body  could  read  them ;  but  I  procured  one  or  two  bulky  volumes 
in  the  Chinese  character.  According  to  the  Dutch  authors,  Japa¬ 
nese  literature  generally  comprises  works  of  science,  history,  biog¬ 
raphy,  geography,  travels,  moral  philosophy,  natural  history,  poet¬ 
ry,  the  drama,  and  encyclopedias — a  very  goodly  catalogue,  if  it 
be  a  correct  one. 

Besides  the  books  containing  nothing  but  pictures  are  works 
of  fiction  illustrated  with  wood-cuts,  the  engravings  being  made 
upon  the  same  blocks  with  the  type.  It  is  said  that  recently  the 
art  of  engraving  on  copper  has  been  introduced. 

Though  ignorant  of  the  art  of  painting  in  oils,  the  Japanese  are 
skillful  in  the  management  of  water-colors,  and  some  of  their  col- 


Group  of  Horses  (from  a  native  drawing). 


ored  prints  are  life-like  and  characteristic.  They  are  generally 
in  a  regular  sequence,  and  the  thread  of  a  story  is  to  be  followed 
throughout.  I  procured  one  book  containing  a  series  of  sketches 
of  groups  of  horses,  in  crayon,  drawn  with  much  spirit  and  artistic 
talent. 

We  may  fairly  presume  that  the  Japanese  are  a  reading  peo-  • 
pie ;  and  from  all  I  could  learn,  the  fair  sex  were  not  behind  their 
lords  in  the  improvement  of  their  minds.  Golownin  bears  testi- 


JAPANESE  LANGUAGE:  ITS  CONSTRUCTION. 


423 


mony  to  this  fact.  11  The  Japanese,”  he  says,  “  are  extremely  fond 
of  reading.  Even  the  common  soldiers,  when  on  duty,  were  con¬ 
tinually  engaged  with  books.  This  passion  for  literature,  how¬ 
ever,  proved  somewhat  inconvenient  to  us,  as  they  always  read 
aloud  in  a  tone  of  voice  resembling  singing.”  They  are  also  al¬ 
most  as  fond  of  writing  notes  to  each  other  as  if  they  rejoiced  in 
the  luxury  of  a  penny-post.  Although  they  have  not  made  that 
important  discovery,  an  organization  does  exist  for  the  transmis¬ 
sion  of  letters  from  one  end  of  the  empire  to  the  other,  of  the  most 
perfect  description.  The  letter-carrier  is  always  attended  by  a 
companion,  to  guard  against  the  chances  of  sickness  or  accident 
delaying  the  regular  postman.  These  men  are  constantly  relieved, 
each  stage  being  performed  at  their  utmost  speed.  I  once  met 
one  of  these  carrying  his  packet  and  dashing  along  with  a  vehe¬ 
mence  which  induced  me  to  inquire  what  his  errand  could  be. 
He  was,  however,  alone :  probably  it  is  not  considered  necessary 
for  town  postmen  to  run  in  couples. 

The  Japanese  write,  like  the  Chinese,  in  columns,  from  the  top 
to  the  bottom  of  the  paper,  beginning  at  the  right-hand  side.  The 
character  is  less  fantastic  and  far  more  running  than  the  Chinese. 
There  is,  indeed,  not  the  slightest  similarity  between  the  lan¬ 
guages,  the  one  being  monosyllabic  and  the  other  polysyllabic. 
The  Japanese  words  are  often  of  unconscionable  length,  but  the 
sounds  are  musical,  and  not  difficult  to  imitate  ;  whereas  the  Chi¬ 
nese  words,  though  of  one  syllable,  consist  generally  of  a  gulp  or 
a  grunt,  not  attainable  by  those  whose  ears  have  not  become 
thoroughly  demoralized  by  a  long  residence  in  the  country.  We 
learned  more  Japanese  words  in  a  week  than  we  had  of  Chinese  in 
a  year ;  and  in  making  a  small,  rough  vocabulary,  I  found  no  dif¬ 
ficulty  in  so  allocating  the  letters  of  the  English  alphabet  as  to 
convey  to  my  memory  a  fair  representation  of  the  sound  I  wished 
to  recollect.  In  Chinese  this  is  quite  impossible.  Klaproth  says, 
in  his  Asia  Polyglotta ,  that  the  Japanese  language  is  so  dissimilar 
from  all  known  languages  in  structure,  grammar,  and  every  char¬ 
acteristic,  that  the  nation  who  speak  it  must  be  a  distinct  race. 
It  is  impossible  to  see  them  and  not  to  arrive  at  this  conclusion, 
on  other  grounds  besides  the  construction  of  their  language.  That 
•  they  originally  sprang  from  the  same  Mongol  stock,  the  descend¬ 
ants  of  which  now  form  a  large  proportion  of  the  population  of 
China,  seems  to  be  generally  admitted ;  but  the  peopling  of  Jap- 


424 


JAPANESE  LANGUAGE:  ITS  CONSTRUCTION. 


an  was,  in  all  probability,  an  event  prior  to  the  first  Mongol  in¬ 
vasion.  Their  features  differ  essentially  from  the  Chinese  type. 
Their  noses  are  not  so  broad  and  flat,  and  their  eyes  are  more 
prominent  and  not  so  oblique.  Altogether,  the  cast  of  counte¬ 
nance  is  far  more  agreeable.  Those  of  our  party  who  had  visited 
the  South  Sea  Islands  found  in  the  Japanese  many  points  of  re¬ 
semblance  with  the  natives  of  that  archipelago.  It  would  be  in¬ 
teresting  to  discover  whether  any  similarity  existed  also  in  their 
language. 

The  student  of  Japanese  will  possess  one  great  advantage  over 
the  victim  condemned  to  the  acquirement  of  the  tongue  of  the 
Celestials,  inasmuch  as  he  starts  with  the  benefit  of  an  alphabet, 
or  rather  a  syllabarium — an  appendage  to  his  language  which  a 
Chinaman  despises.  The  Chinese  character  is,  nevertheless,  con¬ 
stantly  to  be  seen  on  sign-boards  and  the  walls  of  buildings.  It 
is  read  by  educated  Japanese,  but  with  a  pronunciation  which  a 
Chinaman  would  find  it  difficult  to  understand.  Nor  does  the 
character  always  represent  to  the  Japanese  mind  the  idea  which 
it  would  convey  to  the  natives  of  the  Celestial  Empire.  The  dif¬ 
ference  in  pronunciation  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that 
the  Japanese  also  attempt  to  render  the  Chinese  sounds  by  means 
of  their  own  alphabetic  symbols.  It  would,  indeed,  appear  that 
there  are  two  distinct  languages  in  vogue  in  Japan,  called  the 
Yomi  and  Kaye,  of  which  the  former  is  the  national  and  popular 
tongue,  and  the  latter  Chinese,  with  a  Japanese  pronunciation. 
This  is  a  subject,  however,  upon  which  our  information  is  scanty ; 
but  with  our  present  establishment  of  students  at  the  new  ports, 
we  shall,  ere  long,  have  abundant  light  thrown  upon  this  most  in¬ 
teresting  field  of  investigation.  The  student  would  do  well  to  fol¬ 
low  the  example  of  the  Japanese  in  one  respect,  and  carry  about 
with  him  a  note-book.  Every  Japanese  wears  on  a  string  round 
his  waist  a  little  portable  inkstand  :  this  is  usually  neatly  lacker¬ 
ed,  and  contains  one  pen,  or  rather  brush,  and  a  little  water-tight 
compartment  for  ink :  in  his  bosom  are  many  sheets  of  paper,  ei¬ 
ther  separately  or  made  into  the  form  of  a  note-book.  Our  metal¬ 
lic  note-books  were  always  subjects  of  envy  and  curiosity,  and  the 
merits  of  India-rubber  bands  were  duly  appreciated. 

We  found,  on  the  other  hand,  no  less  interest  in  examining  the 
various  uses  to  which  they  apply  that  most  essential  item  in  their 
wants — paper.  It  constituted  the  walls  of  our  rooms  and  the  fans 


UNIVERSAL  USE  OF  PAPER. 


425 


that  were  in  universal  vogue ;  it  was  the  wrapping  of  every  pur¬ 
chase,  and  furnished  the  string  with  which  it  was  afterward  tied. 
In  square  pieces  it  was  used  as  pocket-handkerchiefs,  and,  pressed 
together  and  lackered,  it  was  worn  as  hats :  it  was  of  every  con¬ 
sistency,  thick,  and  coarse,  and  full  of  impurities,  or  thinner  and 
more  transparent  than  the  finest  tissue  paper,  but  always  wonder¬ 
fully  tough.  As  it  is  prepared  from  the  bark  of  the  mulberry- 
tree,  this  is  not  to  be  wondered  at.  The  younger  branches  furnish 
the  whitest  paper.  The  process  consists  in  boiling  down  the  bark 
and  straining  it  through  a  sieve,  when  it  is  mixed  with  rice,  and 
the  water  is  gradually  drawn  off.  The  pap-like  substance  is  then 
spread  carefully  out  into  sheets,  pressed  between  boards,  and  laid 
out  in  the  sun  to  harden  and  dry.  It  is  impossible  to  tear  this 
paper  against  the  grain ;  thin  strips  of  it  torn  in  the  opposite  di¬ 
rection,  and  rolled  up,  make  tough  and  convenient  pieces  of  string. 

The  more  we  saw  of  this  singular  and  attractive  people,  the 
more  we  felt  that  though  we,  on  our  side,  had  much  to  exhibit 
which  astonished  and  delighted  them,  we  were  the  greatest  gain¬ 
ers,  for  the  investigation  of  their  manufactures  and  appliances,  at 
once  so  original  and  ingenious,  proved  a  never-failing  source  of 
interest  and  amusement. 


Japanese  Artist  (from  a  native  drawing). 


426 


A  JAPANESE  FUNERAL. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

A  Japanese  Funeral. — Mode  of  dressing  Ladies’  Hair. — Excellence  of  Japanese  Steel. 
— Carvings  in  Ivory. — Musical  Instruments. — Japanese  War-fans. — An  Expedi¬ 
tion  into  the  Country. — A  Religious  Festival. — Elaborate  Tattooing. — The  Logos 
River. — The  Temple  of  Dai  Cheenara. — The  Interior  of  the  Temple. — A  singular 
Postscript. — Sumptuary  Laws. — Sinagawa. — Taxation  in  Japan. — The  Character 
of  the  Legislation. — Japanese  Management  of  Children. — Results  of  our  Experi¬ 
ence. — Japanese  Love  of  Pleasure. — Effect  of  Contact  with  Europeans. 

For  the  two  or  three  days  following  our  excursion  to  Hojee 
our  time  was  fully  occupied  with  the  commissioners.  Some  of 
our  guests,  however,  were  enabled  to  employ  themselves  agree¬ 
ably  and  profitably  in  riding  about  the  town.  Xot  far  from  our 
residence  was  a  most  tempting-looking  temple,  entered  by  a  mass¬ 
ive  gateway  at  the  end  of  an  avenue  which  led  to  the  base  of  a 
wooded  hill  on  the  summit  of  which  the  gables  of  the  building 
appeared  amid  the  foliage.  Some  enterprising  explorers  made  an 
ineffectual  attempt  to  visit  this  attractive-looking  spot,  but  were 
refused  admittance  in  a  manner  rather  too  peremptory  and  abrupt 
to  be  consistent  with  the  uniform  courtesy  of  the  people  general¬ 
ly.  Upon  this  circumstance  being  mentioned  to  the  commission¬ 
ers,  they  were,  as  usual,  profuse  in  their  apologies,  but  begged  us 
not  to  press  the  point,  as  the  temple  in  question  was  sacred  to  the 
manes  of  defunct  tycoons.  This  fact  only  stimulated  our  curiosi¬ 
ty  still  farther,  but  we  refrained  from  urging  a  request  which 
seemed  distasteful.  On  another  occasion,  some  of  our  party  were 
fortunate  enough  to  witness  a  Japanese  funeral.  In  consequence 
of  the  corpse  being  placed  in  a  sitting  posture,  the  shape  of  the 
coffin  is  more  that  of  a  sedan  chair  than  an  oblong  case.  It  is 
preceded  by  servants  and  members  of  the  establishment,  and  fol¬ 
lowed  by  priests  and  mourners  in  white,  with  norimOns  for  the 
ladies,  and  policemen,  as  usual,  to  keep  off  the  crowd.  Accord¬ 
ing  to  Siebold,  the  corpse  is  interred  to  funeral  music,  produced 
by  striking  copper  basins. 

We  were  so  fortunate  as  to  discover,  not  far  from  our  abode,  a 
small  back  street,  which  was  an  unfailing  resource  when  time  did 
not  permit  of  an  expedition  into  that  part  of  the  city  which  cor¬ 
responds  to  the  borough  of  London.  Here  were  a  quantity  of 


Japanese  Funeral 


EXCELLENCE  OF  JAPANESE  STEEL. 


429 


book-stalls,  some  shops  containing  very  curious  China,  and  a  great 
variety  of  the  peculiar  manufactures  of  the  country.  The  Japa¬ 
nese  are  a  people  plain  and  simple  in  their  tastes,  and,  as  a  rule, 
eschewing  ornaments.  Those,  however,  in  which  the  ladies  in¬ 
dulge  most  freely  are  made  of  glass,  in  the  fabrication  of  which 
into  quaint  devices  the  manufacturers  are  peculiarly  expert.  A 
favorite  trick  is  to  fill  glass  tubes  of  various  shapes  and  patterns 
with  colored  fluids.  These  are  frequently  used  as  hair-pins. 
Sometimes  there  is  a  globe  at  the  end,  in  which  the  liquid  may 
be  detected  by  the  air-bubble  as  it  glances  in  the  raven  tresses  of 
a  Japanese  belle.  Most  of  the  women  wear  their  hair  somewhat 
in  the  style  which  was  in  vogue  among  ourselves  forty  or  fifty 
years  ago — the  back-hair  being  massively  arranged,  and  skewered 
in  various  directions  with  glass  ornaments.  The  female  attend-* 
ants  in  the  establishments  of  princes  are  alone  allowed  to  wear 
their  hair  a  Timjoeratrice.  It  is  singular  that  while  the  Japanese 
have  brought  the  manufacture  of  glass  to  such  perfection  in  cer¬ 
tain  forms — as,  for  instance,  the  most  exquisitely-shaped  bottles, 
so  light  and  fragile  that  they  seem  as  though  they  were  mere 
bubbles,  of  every  shade  of  color,  and  beautifully  enameled  with 
devices — plate-glass  is  unknown  among  them.  Their  looking- 
glasses  are  circular  pieces  of  steel,  polished  so  highly  as  to  answer 
all  the  purposes  of  a  mirror,  and  usually  elaborately  ornamented 
on  the  back. 

The  ornaments  worn  by  the  men  are  almost  exclusively  con¬ 
fined  to  the  handles  of  their  swords.  These  are  generally  gold, 
or  of  a  composite  metal  called  syakfdo,  consisting  of  gold  and 
copper  mixed  with  other  metals,  the  effect  of  which  is  very 
beautiful.  The  device  is  generally  the  representation  of  some 
bird  or  animal,  executed  in  the  most  perfect  and  finished  style. 
In  most  cases  the  handles  of  the  swords  are  covered  with  sha¬ 
green,  upon  which  these  ornaments  are  bound  with  silk  cord. 
The  scabbards  are  either  of  leather  or  wood,  beautifully  lackered, 
and  the  blades  of  steel  of  the  rarest  temper.  I  procured  a  pair 
for  thirty  dollars,  which  bore  the  edge  of  a  razor ;  but  the  price 
was  considered  paltry ;  and  a  really  good  sword,  such  as,  accord¬ 
ing  to  Fischer,  can  cut  through  a  European  sword  without  turn¬ 
ing  its  edge,  is  of  fabulous  value.  I  afterward  learned  that  Baron 
Grros  had  obtained  some  of  the  finest  swords  which  were  to  be 
procured  at  Yedo,  and  had  paid  in  proportion. 


430 


CARVINGS  IN  IVORY. 


There  can  be  no  doubt  that  they  have  attained  to  the  highest 
pitch  of  excellence  in  the  art  of  tempering  steel.  Old  Struys 
says  of  the  manufacturers  of  swords  in  Japan :  “  They  are  grown 
famous  in  all  the  East  for  expert  armorers,  and  temper  steel  bet¬ 
ter  than  the  Chineezes,  which  far  exceed  the  Europeans.  Their 
swords  are  so  well  tempered  that  I  have  struck  with  one  through 
an  iron  pin,  of  half  an  inch  thick,  without  the  least  token  of 
damage  to  the  edge.”  At  first  we  found  great  difficulty  in  per¬ 
suading  our  attendants  to  procure  us  some  swords  to  purchase; 
they  even  exhibited  some  reluctance  to  draw  those  they  had  on 
when  informed  that  we  wished  to  inspect  them.  There  is  some 
superstition  connected  with  their  sale  to  foreigners,  as  the  exporta¬ 
tion  has  heretofore  been  rigorously  prohibited.  Latterly,  how¬ 
ever,  we  completely  overcame  these  scruples. 

The  same  prohibition  is  laid  upon  the  sale  of  gold,  and  this  we 
did  not  find  it  so  easy  to  remove.  Indeed,  ornaments  of  pure 
gold  were  excessively  rare :  but  we  were  consoled  by  the  charm¬ 
ing  little  wood  and  ivory  carvings,  which  are  extensively  used  by 
the  dandies  of  Japan  as  appendages  to  their  pipes,  just  as  those  of 
this  country  tie  bundles  of  charms  or  chatelaines  to  their  watch- 
chains.  Some  of  these  combine,  with  the  utmost  delicacy  of  exe¬ 
cution,  a  keen  sense  of  the  ludicrous,  and  often  represent  objects 
highly  characteristic  of  the  people  and  their  manners.  The  carv¬ 
ings  in  ivory  I  preferred  to  any 
thing  of  the  same  description  in 
China;  they  were  the  most  ex¬ 
pensive  trifles  which  we  discov¬ 
ered  at  Yedo.  The  pipes,  to 
which  these  are  attached  by  a 
silk  cord,  are  worn  buttoned  on 
to  the  dress  near  the  waist.  The 
stem  is  generally  composed  of  a 
reed,  with  a  mouth-piece  of  brass 
or  composite  metal  elaborately 

Croup  from  an  Ivory  Carving.  chased,  and  Si  bowl  of  the  Same 

material,  but  absurdly  small  to  our  Western  notions.  A  pipe  con¬ 
tains  merel}7,  a  whiff ;  a  pinch  of  tobacco  is  rolled  up  to  the  size 
of  a  pea,  and  one  long  soothing  inhalation  completes  the  process : 
as  in  the  East  generally,  the  smoke  is  retained  for  some  time  in 
the  lungs.  The  apparatus  being  constantly  at  hand,  a  Japanese 


MUSICAL  INSTRUMENTS. 


431 


will  smoke  fifty  suck  pipes  in  a  morning.  Tke  tobacco  is  of  a 
pale  yellow  color,  not  unlike  Turkish,  except  in  being  cut  more 
finely,  and  having  a  more  delicate  flavor.  The  best  tobacco  is 
grown  in  the  territories  of  the  Prince  of  Satsuma,  and  the  neigh 
borhood  of  Nagasaki.  The  plant  was  first  introduced  by  the  ear¬ 
ly  Portuguese  traders. 


Japanese  Pipe,  Case,  and  Pouch. 


Some  of  these  shops  were  devoted  to  the  sale  of  musical  instru¬ 
ments,  but  they  were  somewhat  cumbersome  as  curiosities.  The 
most  popular  is  the  samsie  or  lute.  It  is  played  with  a  thin  slip 
of  wood,  and  is  as  necessary  an  accomplishment  among  the  fair 
sex  as  the  piano-forte  is  with  us.  Reed  pipes,  tomtoms,  and  flutes 
are  also  among  the  instruments  we  observed  exhibited.  Next 
door  lived  an  old  man,  whose  occupation  consisted  in  the  manu¬ 
facture  of  bows  and  arrows,  which  are  still  used  as  offensive  weap¬ 
ons  in  war.  Some  of  the  bows  were  prettily  lackered. 


A  Samsie  or  Lute. 


432 


AN  EXPEDITION  INTO  THE  COUNTRY. 


Perhaps,  however,  the  most  singular  arm  which  the  Japanese 
employ  in  the  battle-field  is  the  war-fan.  This  is  a  paper  fan  of 
a  larger  size  than  usual,  the  sheaths  of  which  are  made  of  iron,  so 
that  if,  fatigued  by  a  violent  personal  encounter,  a  warrior  sits 
down  for  a  moment  to  rest  and  cool  himself,  and  is  unexpectedly 
attacked,  he  immediately  hits  his  enemy  over  the  head  with  his 
fan.  I  endeavored  to  obtain  one  of  these;  but  they  were  only 
made  to  order,  and  were  not  completed  when  we  left  Yedo.  The 
pattern  on  the  fan  is  the  national  emblem,  a  red  sun  on  a  black 
ground  ;  but  the  process  of  fanning  one’s  self  with  an  iron  fan  can 
not  be  cooling.  In  strong  contrast  to  these  is  a  description  of  fan 
made  of  a  substance  so  thin  and  transparent  that  it  resembles  gold¬ 
beater’s  skin ;  nothing  can  be  conceived  lighter  or  pleasanter  to 
use.  The  fan  is  an  inseparable  part  of  a  Japanese  dress.  It  is 
his  shelter  from  the  sun,  his  note-book,  and  his  plaything  if  it  does 
not  happen  to  be  hot.  Without  it  he  is  as  much  at  a  loss  to  know 
what  to  do  with  his  hands  as  an  Englishman  is  at  an  evening  party 
without  his  hat.  There  is  so  great  a  variety  that  it  would  be  quite 
an  interesting  occupation  to  take  up  the  subject  seriously  and 
make  a  collection. 

On  the  24th  of  August  we  started  on  another  riding  expedition 
to  the  celebrated  temple  of  Dai  Cheenara,  situated  about  ten  miles 
from  Yedo,  toward  Kanagawa.  Our  road,  therefore,  led  in  the 
opposite  direction  from  that  which  we  had  followed  upon  the  for¬ 
mer  occasion,  and  took  us  through  the  long  western  suburb  that 
skirts  the  bay  for  a  distance  of  five  or  six  miles,  first  through  the 
notorious  quarter  called  Sinagawa  which  we  saw  to  greater  ad¬ 
vantage  on  our  return  journey,  then  for  half  a  league  through 
Omogawa,  and  past  a  spot  which  was  celebrated  as  the  place  for 
public  executions ;  it  was  just  on  the  outskirts  of  the  town,  in  an 
aceldama  where  the  grass  was  long  and  rank,  and  a  monolith,  eight 
for  ten  feet  high,  was  surrounded  by  a  stone  bench,  the  victim’s 
last  seat.  Generally  criminals  who  have  committed  crimes  wor¬ 
thy  of  death  forestall  the  public  executioner,  and  save  themselves 
the  disgrace  by  hara-kiri.  The  ordinary  mode  of  execution  is  de¬ 
capitation.  Titsingh,  however,  says  that  in  some  cases  the  torture 
is  prolonged  as  much  as  possible,  and  the  skill  of  the  executioner 
is  tested  by  the  number  of  wounds  he  can  inflict  without  causing 
death. 

A  little  beyond  this  disagreeable  locality  we  come  out  upon 


A  RELIGIOUS  FESTIVAL.— ELABORATE  TATTOOING.  433 

pleasant  rice-fields  and  wide  areas  of  cultivation,  divided  by  rows 
of  trees,  which  are  occasionally  grouped  in  clumps.  The  country 
is  perfectly  level,  the  road  broad  and  good,  and  lined  with  trees ; 
wayfarers  are  abundant,  generally  on  foot,  but  sometimes  in  the 
basket-chairs  peculiar  to  the  middle  classes.  Even  after  the  town 
has  ceased  houses  are  thickly  dotted  along  the  road.  But  our 
journey  to-day  is  doubly  interesting,  because  it  happens  to  be  a 
religious  festival.  The  Japanese  celebrate  these  about  twice  a 
month,  upon  each  occasion  to  do  honor  to  some  special  divinity 
or  saint.  One,  indeed,  is  in  honor  of  the  devil,  and  originated  in 
a  dispute  which  for  some  time  agitated  the  religious  world  in  Jap¬ 
an  as  to  the  color  of  his  Satanic  majesty.  One  sect  maintained 
it  was  black,  another  white,  another  red,  and  another  green.  The 
Mikado,  deprived  of  the  assistance  of  an  ecclesiastical  court,  de¬ 
termined  the  matter  in  a  manner  worthy  his  infallible  pretensions. 
He  declared  that  the  devil  was  of  all  these  four  colors  at  will — a 
decision  which  carried  conviction  to  the  minds  of  all.  This  is  a 
story  told  by  Meylan.  Siebold,  as  I  have  before  said,  denies  that 
the  Japanese  believe  in  a  devil  at  all,  while,  according  to  Kgemp- 
fer,  their  only  idea  of  him  is  in  the  likeness  of  a  fox.  It  did  not 
occur  to  me  to  make  inquiries  upon  the  subject. 

Another  celebrated  festival  is  the  Feast  of  Lamps.  When  this 
takes  place,  processions  of  boats,  brilliantly  illuminated,  move 
about  the  harbor,  and  produce  a  striking  effect.  I  have  forgotten 
the  name  of  the  saint  in  whose  honor  the  whole  world  was  bask¬ 
ing  in  the  sun,  doing  nothing,  when  we  went  to  Dai  Cheenara,  but 
the  streets  had  never  before  seemed  so  crowded ;  flags  waved  from 
balconies,  and  strips  of  bright-colored  cotton,  covered  with  charac¬ 
ters,  fluttered  from  poles ;  the  women  wore  flowers  in  their  hair, 
and  the  men  had  more  on  than  usual.  Some,  however,  denied 
themselves  the  benefit  of  dress,  apparently  for  the  purpose  of  ex¬ 
hibiting  the  brilliant  patterns  in  which  their  skins  were  tattooed. 
One  man  had  a  monster  crab  in  the-  small  of  his  back,  and  a  pret¬ 
ty  cottage  on  his  chest.  It  is  rather  fashionable  to  have  scarlet 
fishes  playing  sportively  between  your  shoulders.  The  scarlet 
tattooing  presents  a  very  disgusting  appearance.  The  skin  looks 
as  if  it  had  been  carefully  peeled  off  into  the  required  pattern. 
On  a  really  well  tattooed  man  there  is  not  an  inch  of  the  body 
which  does  not  form  part  of  a  pictorial  representation.  If  the 
general  effect  is  not  agreeable,  it  is  perfectly  decent,  for  the  skin 

E  E 


434 


THE  TEMPLE  OF  DAI  CHEENARA. 


ceases  to  look  bare,  or  like  skin  at  all ;  it  rather  resembles  a  har¬ 
lequin’s  costume.  It  must  be  dreadful  to  feel  that  one  can  never 
undress  again.  Yet  what  anguish  does  the  victim  undergo  in  or¬ 
der  to  put  himself  into  a  permanent  suit  of  red  dye  and  gunpow¬ 
der  ! 

Of  course,  after  we  had  completed  a  little  more  than  half  our 
journey,  we  stopped  at  a  tea-house.  The  day  was  scorchingly 
hot.  Riding  in  the  sun  on  a  lacker-saddle,  without  an  umbrella, 
in  the  middle  of  August,  is  a  process  which  makes  one  appreciate 
the  merits  of  a  tea-house.  W e  find  the  coolest  corner,  stretch  our¬ 
selves  full-length  on  the  soft  mats,  drink  tea,  eat  fruit,  smoke  in¬ 
finitesimal  pipes,  and  get  ourselves  fanned  into  a  comatose  state 
by  fair  damsels,  until  the  inexorable  Tainoske  tells  us  that  the 
time  is  up,  and  that,  if  we  are  to  see  the  temple,  we  must  once 
more  brave  the  rays  of  the  Japanese  sun.  So  we  are  again  en 
route ,  and  jog  on  till  we  reach  the  Logos  River,  a  deep  stream 
about  fifty  yards  broad,  and  which  is  chiefly  noteworthy  because 
it  is  named  by  the  treaty  as  the  future  limits  of  the  rambles  of  the 
European  community  in  this  direction.  Round  every  one  of  the 
new  ports  is  a  line  of  demarcation,  beyond  which  it  will  not  be 
permitted  to  Europeans  to  penetrate.  This,  as  a  general  rule, 
comprises  a  radius  of  about  twenty  miles. 

We  were  ferried  across  the  Logos  River,  and  found  ourselves  in 
the  village  of  Kawasaki ;  after  traversing  which  we  are  once  more 
in  the  open  fields,  but  our  road  has  narrowed  to  a  bridle-path,  and 
it  leads  between  neatly-clipped  hedges,  along  the  margin  of  purl¬ 
ing  streams ;  past  more  cottages  with  steep  thatched  roofs :  some¬ 
times  these  are  double ;  a  sort  of  hood  is  constructed  above  the 
regular  roof,  which  has  deep  overhanging  eaves  that  are  formed 
into  verandas.  Here,  as  on  the  road  to  Hojee,  the  people  love  to 
bury  themselves  beneath  creepers  and  flowering  shrubs,  but  they 
do  not  neglect  the  essentials  altogether.  There  are  kitchen-gar¬ 
dens  attached  to  every  establishment,  with  vegetables,  and  fruit- 
trees,  and  orchards,  where  the  pears  are  trained  on  trellises  like 
grapes.  At  last  we  reach  a  spacious  pile  of  building,  which  is 
surrounded  by  a  ditch,  and  a  massive  wall  surmounted  by  a  pal¬ 
ing,  which  is  in  its  turn  overshadowed  by  lofty  trees. 

The  single  street  which  composed  the  village  was  gay  with  flags 
and  crowded  with  people ;  it  led  us  straight  up  to  the  principal 
entrance  to  the  temple,  and  the  crowd  thronged  us  as  we  pushed 


THE  INTERIOR  OE  THE  TEMPLE. 


435 


on,  so  that  we  were  glad  to  get  inside  the  gates,  which  were  at 
once  closed  after  ns.  But  we  were  little  better  off  here.  The 
spacious  court  was  filled  with  a  dense  crowd,  who  clustered  on 
the  broad  flight  of  steps  leading  up  to  the  temple. 

In  this  court  was  a  ponderous  bell,  swinging  in  a  handsome  bel¬ 
fry  of  carved  wood,  on  a  massive  pedestal.  In  Japan  the  bells 
never  have  tongues  or  clappers,  but  are  always  struck  from  with¬ 
out  by  a  piece  of  wood  conveniently  suspended.  Near  the  prin¬ 
cipal  flight  of  steps  hung  a  large  gong,  while  in  the  outer  veranda 
were  swinging  paper  lanterns,  some  of  an  oval  shape,  ten  or  twelve 
feet  in  length  by  about  six  in  breadth,  and  others  like  truncated 
columns. 

The  building  itself  was  in  the  form  of  a  shed,  with  very  deep 
verandas,  slightly  twisted  gables,  a  steep  roof,  and  substantial 
walls.  The  columns  which  supported  the  veranda  were  of  wood, 
sheathed  in  copper  at  the  base,  while  the  capital  was  ornamented 
with  carved  representations  of  lions. 

Within  the  building  were  more  similar  columns.  The  wood¬ 
en  panels  which  formed  the  ceiling  were  elaborately  carved, 
and  abundantly  ornamented  with 
colored  lacker,  covered  with  pret¬ 
ty  landscapes.  In  the  space,  in¬ 
closed  by  a  railing,  at  the  farther 
end  of  which  was  the  tiny  image, 
were  magnificent  brass  candela- 
bras,  elegantly  shaped,  so  as  to  rep¬ 
resent  the  sacred  lotus.  A  profu¬ 
sion  of  brazen  and  tinsel  ornaments 
almost  concealed  the  minute  god, 
seated  on  his  table  in  the  dim  dis¬ 
tance,  in  the  centre  of  a  screen 
which  bore  the  imperial  arms.  In 
the  middle  of  the  apartment  a  priest 
in  green  robes  was  performing  serv¬ 
ice  ;  assisting  him  was  another  in 
yellow;  while  some  more  in  red  were  present  as  by-standers. 

The  chief  priest  soon  took  an  opportunity  of  coming  up  to 
Lord  Elgin  with  the  polite  intention  of  doing  the  honors  of  the 
establishment,  but  our  means  of  communication  were  too  limited 
to  enable  us  to  extract  very  much  information  from  him.  He 


486 


A  SINGULAR  POSTSCRIPT. 


was  a  man  of  mild,  amiable  countenance,  which  did  not,  however, 
betoken  a  very  high  order  of  intellect. 

Meantime  the  news  had  spread  that  beings  of  strange  aspect 
were  in  the  temple,  and  when  we  emerged  from  it  the  crowd  had 
increased  so  much  that  we  had  some  difficulty  in  remounting  our 
steeds.  By  the  time  we  reached  Kawasaki  the  fatigues  of  the 
day  were  beginning  to  tell  upon  us,  and  we  felt  that  a  meal  was 
necessary  to  the  restoration  of  our  prostrate  energies ;  so  we  took 
possession  of  the  upper  story  of  a  tea-house,  from  the  balcony  of 
which  we  could  look  over  the  garden,  with  its  ponds,  and  orna¬ 
mental  rock-work,  and  artificial  islands,  and  awaited  the  repast 
which  it  might  please  the  cook  to  send  us.  We  had  faith  in  the 
never-failing  rice  and  fish,  and  were  not  disappointed.  To  crown 
all,  a  breathless  messenger  appeared  bearing  a  huge  dish  of  pears 
— a  present  from  the  priest  of  the  temple  we  had  just  left  to  Lord 
Elgin — a  fact  which  was  intimated  in  a  note,  which  contained,  by 
way  of  an  inclosure,  a  piece  of  dried  salt  fish.  This  singular  ac¬ 
companiment  forms  a  recognized  part  of  Japanese  correspondence. 
It  is  the  postscript  to  the  letter,  and  the  burden  of  it  is,  u  Happy 
those  who  never  depart  from  the  wisdom  of  their  ancestors.”  In 
other  words,  “  Remember  we  were  originally  a  nation  of  fisher¬ 
men  ;  let  us  not  now  become  effeminate  and  luxurious,  but  recog¬ 
nize  in  the  inclosed  slice  of  fish  the  emblem  of  our  former  occu¬ 
pation,  and  let  it  recall  to  us  the  necessity  of  abstinence  and  fru¬ 
gality.”  Kor  is  the  moral  thus  intended  to  be  conveyed  a  mere 
piece  of  barren  sentiment.  It  is  the  embodiment  of  an  active 
principle  in  Japan,  and  accounts  for  that  Spartan  simplicity  and 
absence  of  display  which  characterizes  the  natives.  The  aristoc¬ 
racy,  in  their  domestic  arrangements,  are  said  to  practice  the  ut¬ 
most  economy,  and,  except  in  obedience  to  official  requirements 
or  the  claims  of  conventional  etiquette,  to  avoid  as  much  as  pos¬ 
sible  all  ostentation  or  personal  extravagance. 

Alluding  to  this  striking  feature  in  the  national  character, 
Thunberg  says :  “  It  is  in  Japan,  above  all,  that  I  have  found  that 
wise  and  useful  economy,  which  must  not  be  confounded  with 
avarice,  and  to  which  I  do  not  hesitate  to  accord  the  name  of  vir¬ 
tue,  because  the  opposite  is  one  of  the  most  disgusting  of  vices. 
This  virtue  is  practiced  equally  in  the  palace  of  the  emperor  and 
in  the  hut  of  the  pauper.  The  latter  knows  how  to  content  him¬ 
self  with  the  little  he  possesses,  while  the  rich  man  does  not  dissi- 


SINAGAWA. 


437 


pate  his  wealth  in  a  profusion  at  once  hurtful  to  the  poor  man  and 
fatal  to  the  general  well-being  of  society.  Hence  arises  a  happy 
ignorance  of  those  two  scourges  so  common  among  our  wise  Eu¬ 
ropean  nations,  scarcity  and  high  prices,  words  for  which  it  would 
be  difficult  to  find  synonyms  in  the  Japanese  language.” 

The  rigid  code  of  sumptuary  laws  which  obtains  in  Japan,  pro¬ 
scribing  certain  luxuries,  and  defining  minutely  the  style  of  dress 
to  be  worn  by  each  grade  in  the  social  scale,  singularly  illustrates 
the  powerful  influence  which  this  marked  national  characteristic 
exercises  over  the  community  at  large. 

It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  ere  we  re-entered  Sinagawa,  and 
the  streets  seemed  more  crowded  than  ever ;  but  the  most  singu¬ 
lar  feature  in  this  suburb  is  the  houses  of  which  it  is  composed, 
and  the  purpose  to  which  they  are  dedicated.  For  at  least  a  mile 
we  rode  between  establishments  organized  on  a  most  extensive 
scale.  Deep  verandas,  approached  by  flights  of  steps,  seemed  lit¬ 
erally  packed  with  the  unfortunate  victims  of  a  system  which  is 
one  of  the  most  singular  characteristics  of  the  country.*  While, 
however,  it  is  impossible  either  to  extenuate  or  to  justify  the  tol¬ 
eration  by  society,  or  the  countenance  by  government,  of  an  evil 
which  must  exercise  so  pernicious  an  influence  upon  all  classes 
of  the  community,  it  is  only  fair  to  estimate  at  its  true  value  the 
extent  of  that  influence.  It  is  impossible  to  compare  the  general 
social  well-being  of  Japan  with  that  of  any  other  country,  and 
not  admit  that,  notwithstanding  the  existence  of  this  peculiar  de¬ 
velopment  of  immorality,  it  will  gain  by  the  contrast. 

Universal  testimony  assures  us  that  in  their  domestic  relations 
the  men  are  gentle  and  forbearing,  the  women  obedient  and  virtu¬ 
ous.  I  will  venture  to  assert  that  it  is  unknown  in  Japan  for  a 
man  to  knock  down  his  wife  and  then  stamp  upon  her,  having 
previously  driven  her  teeth  down  her  throat  with  an  iron  bolt ; 
perhaps  because  his  wife  has  never,  either  by  her  intemperate 
habits,  frail  conduct,  or  abusive  language,  given  him  cause  to  do 
so ;  and  so,  in  every  department  of  crime,  we  have  reason  to  be¬ 
lieve  that  the  amount  of  grave  offenses  committed  against  society 
is  less  in  proportion  to  the  population  than  that  of  other  countries. 

It  is  true  that  their  criminal  code  is  severe;  but  the  best  author¬ 
ities  on  the  subject  state  that  there  is  an  absolute  impartiality  in 
the  infliction  of  punishment.  The  great  principle  upon  which 

*  See  Appendix. 


438 


TAXATION  IN  JAPAN. 


tlieir  legal  system  is  based  is  the  administration  of  equal  justice, 
and  the  punishment  which  comes  home  to  the  rich  as  well  as  to 
the  poor  man,  with  equal  force,  is  death.  This,  then,  is  the  pen¬ 
alty  in  most  cases ;  but  imprisonment  and  corporal  punishment 
are  also  resorted  to. 

But  it  would  appear  from  Rundall’s  notes*  that  the  Japanese 
not  only  enjoy  the  advantage  of  a  just  and  impartial  administra¬ 
tion  of  justice ;  they  are  still  more  highly  privileged  by  exemp¬ 
tion  from  taxation  in  the  strict  sense  of  that  term.  The  territory 
of  which  the  empire  consists  is  vested  entirely  in  the  crown.  The 
revenues  are  derived  solely  from  the  rents  of  the  land,  which  vary 
according  to  the  crops.  There  are  assessors  annually  appointed, 
whose  business  it  is  to  make  the  necessary  valuation  and  adjusl 
the  respective  rights  of  landlord  and  tenant.  The  land  is  held 
either  directly  under  the  crown,  or  under  the  princes  or  nobles 
who  have  been  invested  by  the  crown  with  territorial  rights,  and 
who,  in  return,  pay  rent,  accompanied  by  the  performance  of  cer¬ 
tain  feudal  services.  Tenants  holding  direct  from  the  crown  pay 
to  the  emperor’s  stewards  four  parts  out  of  ten  of  the  produce  of 
the  soil,  whether  of  rice,  corn,  or  pulse,  reserving  the  residue  for 
their  own  use.  Such  as  hold  under  the  princes  pay  six  parts  out 
of  ten. 

In  cities  a  house-tax  is  levied.  Houses,  however,  under  ninety 
feet  in  length,  are  exempt  from  this  impost.  The  same  authority 
also  states  that,  though  sanguinary  in  principle,  the  laws  are  great¬ 
ly  modified  in  practice.  All  the  Dutch  writers  unite  in  extolling 
the  excellence  of  the  native  tribunals,  and  their  competence  to 
deal  with  criminal,  and  give  satisfaction  in  civil  causes.  Ksemp- 
fer  says:  “ I  would  not  have  the  reader  suppose  that  the  Japanese 
live  entirely  without  laws ;  far  from  it ;  their  laws  and  constitu¬ 
tions  are  excellent,  and  strictly  observed.”  Our  information  upon 
this  subject  is,  however,  not  sufficiently  ample  to  enable  us  to  de¬ 
cide  upon  the  extent  of  influence  exercised  by  the  administration 
of  justice  in  the  prevention  of  crime.  Macfarlane,  quoting  Dutch 
authorities,  after  describing  the  safety  of  the  roads,  states:  “This 
result  is  not  all  produced  by  legislations,  severe  laws,  and  munic¬ 
ipal  and  police  regulations;  the  Japanese,  as  a  proud  people,  have 
a  contempt  or  abhorrence  of  cheating,  pilfering,  stealing,  or  rob¬ 
bing.”  There  are  doubtless  many  causes  operating  to  produce 

*  Rundall’s  King  dome  of  Japonica  (Notes). 


JAPANESE  MANAGEMENT  OF  CHILDREN. 


439 


the  same  effect,  but  it  would  require  a  closer  insight  into  the  con¬ 
stitution  of  society  and  character  of  the  people  than  we  were  able 
to  obtain  to  specify  what  they  are.  We  could  only  judge  by  the 
result.  As  locks  and  keys  did  not  exist,  our  rooms  were  open  to 
the  incursions  of  any  of  the  numerous  attendants  who  swarmed 
about  our  lodgings,  and,  though  we  left  the  most  tempting  English 
curiosities  constantly  displayed,  yet  we  never  had  to  complain  of 
a  single  article  missing,  even  of  the  most  trifling  value. 

I  thought  it  singular  that,  during  the  whole  period  of  our  stay 
in  Yedo,  I  should  never  have  heard  a  scolding  woman,  or  seen  a 
disturbance  in  the  streets,  although,  whenever  I  passed  through 
them,  they  were  densely  crowded.  Upon  no  single  occasion, 
though  children  were  numerous,  did  I  ever  see  a  child  struck  or 
otherwise  maltreated.  Thunberg,  who  passed  many  years  in  Jap¬ 
an,  mentions  the  same  fact ;  and  in  a  description  of  the  empire 
in  the  sixteenth  century,  from  “  The  Firste  Booke  of  Relations  of 
Moderne  States,”  Harleian  MS.  6249,  the  following  passage  oc¬ 
curs:  “They  chastice  their  children  with  wordes  onlye,  and  the" 
admonishe  theire  children  when  they  are  five  yeares  oulde,  as  yf 
the’  weare  oulde  men.”  To  our  own  knowledge,  this  mode  of 
educating  youth  has  been  in  existence  for  more  than  three  cen¬ 
turies,  and  the  result,  according  to  universal  testimony,  is  in  the 
highest  degree  satisfactory.  Kasmpfer,  Charlevoix,  and  Titsingh 
agree  in  saying  that  the  love,  obedience,  and  reverence  manifested 
by  children  toward  their  parents  is  unbounded;  while  the  con¬ 
fidence  placed  by  paints  in  their  children  is  represented  to  be 
without  limit.  Parents  select  their  children  to  be  arbitrators  in 
their  disputes  with  others,  and  submit  implicitly  to  their  decis¬ 
ions  ;  it  is  also  a  constant  practice  for  parents  to  resign  their  state 
and  property  to  a  son  when  he  shall  have  attained  a  suitable  age, 
remaining  for  the  rest  of  life  dependent  on  him  for  support ;  and 
abuse  of  this  trust  is  said  to  be  unknown. 

With  the  exception  of  one  or  two  religious  mendicants,  I  did 
not  observe  in  this  vast  and  populous  city  any  beggars.  Kaamp- 
fer,  however,  records  having  seen  them  on  the  country  roads. 
Deformed  objects  rarely  met  the  eye;  not  a  drunkard  crossed  our 
path,  though  from  recent  accounts  revelers  occasionally  parade  the 
streets  of  an  evening.  From  the  numbers  of  people  marked  with 
small-pox,  that  disease  must  rage  with  virulence  in  Japan,  but  the 
appalling  sights  so  familiar  in  China  are  unknown  there. 


440 


RESULTS  OF  OUR  EXPERIENCE. 


So,  in  our  daily  intercourse  with,  the  commissioners  and  our  at¬ 
tendants,  no  instance  occurred  of  any  Japanese  losing  his  temper, 
though  it  is  impossible  to  suppose  that,  belonging  to  a  race  natu¬ 
rally  proud  and  haughty,  they  were  never  tried.  These  were  our 
experiences,  but  it  does  not  by  any  means  follow  that  those  who 
live  longer  in  the  country  may  not  have  reason  to  change  them. 
We  left  Japan  thoroughly  agreeing  with  old  Kaempfer,  who,  after 
a  residence  of  many  years  there,  thus  sums  up  his  estimate  of  the 
character  of  the  people:  “ United  and  peaceable,  taught  to  give 
due  worship  to  the  gods,  due  obedience  to  the  laws,  due  submis¬ 
sion  to  their  superiors,  due  love  and  regard  to  their  neighbors, 
civil,  obliging,  virtuous ;  in  art  and  industry  excelling  all  other 
nations ;  possessed  of  an  excellent  country,  enriched  by  mutual 
trade  and  commerce  among  themselves ;  courageous,  abundantly 
supplied  with  all  the  necessaries  of  life,  and,  withal,  enjoying  the 
fruits  of  peace  and  tranquillity.”  Xavier  says  as  the  result  of  his 
long  missionary  experience :  u  The  Japanese,  so  far  as  I  have  been 
able  to  judge,  surpass  in  virtue  and  in  probity  all  other  nations 
hitherto  discovered.  They  are  of  a  mild  disposition,  opposed  to 
chicanery,  covetous  of  honors,  which  they  prefer  to  every  thing. 
Poverty  is  very  common  among  them,  but  in  no  way  discredita¬ 
ble,  although  they  endure  it  with  difficulty.” 

It  can  not  be  denied  that  their  good  qualities  are  dimmed  by 
.  sundry  weaknesses,  without  which  they  would  be  more  than  hu¬ 
man.  They  are  notoriously  vindictive,  superstitious,  haughty, 
exceedingly  tenacious  of  their  honor,  and  often  cruel  and  unspar¬ 
ing  in  their  mode  of  protecting  or  revenging  it. 

From  what  we  saw  of  the  habits  of  the  people,  we  should  be 
disposed  to  agree  with  those  who  charge  them  with  being  a  some¬ 
what  frivolous  and  pleasure-loving  race  ;  but  this  has  by  no  means 
the  effect  of  rendering  them  effeminate.  “  The  Japaneezes,”  says 
Struys,  “  are  in  general  a  very  hardy  people,  and  can  endure  any 
extremity  of  heat  or  cold,  hunger  or  thirst,  to  a  miracle.  This 
they  seem  to  come  to  by  a  hardy  usage  when  young,  for  they  al¬ 
ways  bathe  their  infants  in  cold  water  in  rivers,  and  sometimes 
plunge  them  over  head  and  ears  in  snow.” 

It  would  seem  that,  while  physically  robust,  their  minds  are  of 
a  cultivated  and  dilettante  order.  They  love  not  idleness,  but 
occupations  which  are  refined  and  congenial  to  their  tastes.  Com¬ 
merce  is  considered  by  them  a  degrading  pursuit ;  while  literature 


EFFECT  OF  CONTACT  WITH  EUROPEANS. 


441 


and  the  fine  arts,  and  scientific  acquirements,  are  held  in  high 
estimation.  It  is  a  question  whether  that  activity  of  mind  and 
energy  of  character  which  finds  expression  in  pleasure-parties  and 
gala-days  is  not  far  preferable  to  the  apathetic  indifference  of  a 
Chinese  mandarin,  who  thinks  gayety  undignified,  active  exercise 
a  penance,  and  who  only  desires  to  be  left  alone  with  his  pipes 
and  women,  rapt  in  contemplation  of  the  Taoli,  and  the  red  tape 
peculiar  to  the  Board  of  Rites.  One  result  of  this  difference  be¬ 
tween  the  habits  and  mode  of  feeling  of  the  two  nations  is  un¬ 
doubtedly  this,  that  whereas  the  Chinese  are  steadily  retrograding, 
and  will,  in  all  probability,  continue  to  do  so  until  the  empire  fall 
to  pieces,  the  Japanese,  if  not  actually  in  a  state  of  progressive  ad¬ 
vancement,  are  in  a  condition  to  profit  by  the  flood  of  light  that 
is  about  to  be  poured  in  upon  them,  and  to  take  advantage  of 
those  improvements  and  inventions  which  the  Chinese  regard 
with  contemptuous  scorn,  but  which  the  Japanese  will,  in  all  prob¬ 
ability,  when  they  come  to  know  us  better,  be  both  able  and  anx¬ 
ious  to  adopt. 

It  will  be  a  happy  thing  for  Japan  if  this  light  is  not  followed 
by  a  very  thick  darkness.  In  the  mean  time,  it  would  be  con¬ 
trary  to  all  our  experience  of  human  nature  to  expect  that  the  in¬ 
auguration  of  our  intercourse  with  a  nation  wedded  to  the  habits 
and  traditions  of  centuries,  coming  for  the  first  time  into  contact 
with  a  civilization  so  different  from  its  own,  will  be  unattended 
with  difficulty. 


442 


POPULATION  OF  YEDO. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

Population  of  Yedo. — The  Nipon  Bas. — The  Quanon  Temple. — A  Fair. — An  Avi¬ 
ary. — A  singular  Tableau. — Theatrical  Representations. — Toy-shops. — Astronom¬ 
ical  System. — Mountain  Pilgrims. — Japanese  Wrestlers. — A  conjuring  Exhibi¬ 
tion. — The  Butterfly  Trick. — The  Commissioners  at  a  Dinner-party. — After-din¬ 
ner  Enthusiasm. — Presents  to  the  Mission. — Capacious  Dressing-gowns. — Last 
Night  in  Yedo. 

There  remained  yet  one  section  of  the  city  unvisited.  The 
whole  of  the  eastern  quarter,  as  distant  from  our  abode  as  Black- 
wall  is  from  Chelsea,  was  still  a  terra  incognita.  There  was  a  cele¬ 
brated  temple  to  be  seen  here,  and  the  far-famed  Xipon  Bas  to  be 
traversed  in  reaching  it.  This  ride,  taken  in  connection  with  our 
previously  acquired  knowledge  of  the  extent  of  the  town  in  the 
opposite  direction,  gave  us  some  idea  of  the  vastness  of  this  gi¬ 
gantic  city.  It  is  difficult  to  form  an  estimate  of  the  population 
it  contains,  as  the  people  are  more  closely  packed  in  some  parts 
than  in  Western  cities;  while  in  the  large  area  occupied  by  the 
princes’  quarter,  the  population  must  be  comparatively  thin. 
Upon  this  occasion  we  rode  at  a  fast  walk  for  two  consecutive 
hours  between  dense  masses  of  people.  We  had  done  so  the  day 
before  along  the  continuation  of  the  same  street  in  the  opposite 
direction.  Ktempfer,  who  visited  Yedo  during  the  early  part  of 
the  last  century,  confirms  our  impressions  upon  the  subject. 
“Yedo,”  he  says,  “properly  the  capital  of  the  whole  empire,  and 
the  seat  of  the  secular  monarch,  is  so  large  that  I  may  venture  to 
say  that  it  is  the  biggest  town  known.  Thus  much  I  can  affirm 
from  my  own  certain  knowledge,  that  we  were  one  whole  day 
riding  a  moderate  pace  from  Sinagawa,  where  the  suburb  begins, 
along  the  chief  street,  which  goes  across,  a  little  irregularly  indeed, 
to  the  end  of  the  town.” 

Gfolownin  has  made  a  rather  wild  estimate  of  the  population  at 
8,000,000.  This  is  a  statement  worthy  of  P£re  Hue.  Hon  Rod¬ 
rigo  de  Yivero  y  Yelasco,  on  the  other  hand,  puts  it  at  700,000  ; 
but  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  have  elapsed  since  the  visit  of 
the  Spaniard.  The  present  population  would,  in  all  probability, 
be  found  to  exceed  two  millions.  Yedo  is  built  upon  the  banks 


THE  NIPON  BAS.— THE  QUANON  TEMPLE. 


US 


of  tlie  Todagawa,  at  the  point  where  that  river  debouches  into  the 
head  of  the  Bay  of  Yedo.  The  principal  part  of  the  city  is  situ¬ 
ated  on  the  right  bank.  The  river,  expanding  as  it  nears  the  sea, 
is,  at  a  point  at  which  it  has  attained  a  considerable  breadth,  span¬ 
ned  by  the  Nipon  Bas,  a  bridge  of  enormous  length,  built  on  piles. 
It  is  notorious  as  the  ITyde  Park  Corner  of  Japan — the  point  from 
which  all  the  mile-stones  throughout  the  empire  are  numbered. 
Crossing  it,  we  gradually  emerged  from  the  more  densely  crowded 
streets,  and  found  ourselves  at  last  in  a  lane  which  presented  all 
the  appearance  of  a  fair.  Booths  on  each  side  displayed  an  infi¬ 
nite  variety  of  toys,  women’s  ornaments,  prints,  and  playthings  of 
every  description.  Crowds  of  idle  loungers  thronged  the  thor¬ 
oughfare,  at  the  end  of  which  we  could  discern  the  massive  pro¬ 
portions  of  the  temple  rising  among  the  trees,  and  towering  above 
them  and  the  peaked  roofs  of  a  five-storied  pagoda.  It  was  dedi¬ 
cated  to  Quanon,  a  popular  divinity  in  Japan,  though  of  Buddhist 
extraction,  and  imported  from  China.  The  most  celebrated  tem¬ 
ple  in  honor  of  this  deity  is  at  Miako. 

Passing  under  an  entrance  archway,  the  shops  on  each  side  were 
replaced  by  an  avenue  of  handsome  trees.  This  terminated  in  an 
open  space  which  was  densely  crowded,  as  was  the  broad  flight  of 
steps  leading  up  to  the  veranda.  We  heard  a  good  deal  of  hoot¬ 
ing  and  yelling,  but  it  was  not  accompanied  by  pelting  or  other 
marks  of  ill-will,  and  was  probably  the  result  of  excitement  and 
exuberant  spirits  on  the  part  of  the  more  juvenile  and  least  repu¬ 
table  part  of  the  mob.  They  were  always  sufficiently  civil  to  leave 
a  small  vacant  space  immediately  round  us.  As  we  stood  at  the 
top  of  the  steps,  and  looked  down  upon  the  sea  of  upturned  faces 
gazing  at  us,  I  doubted  whether  the  spectacle  which  we  presented 
was  as  striking  to  them  as  their  appearance  was  to  us. 

The  interior  of  this  temple  did  not  differ  materially  from  those 
we  had  already  visited.  It  was  the  oldest  and  most  cobwebby, 
and  therefore,  in  an  ecclesiastical  point  of  view,  the  most  respect¬ 
able.  The  paper  lanterns  were  more  monstrous — some  of  them 
were  at  least  twenty  feet  in  height — I  should  think  double  that  in 
circumference,  and  covered  with  characters.  The  temple  was  dec¬ 
orated  with  numerous  pictorial  representations;  among  others 
were  depicted  scenes  of  by  no  means  a  religious  character,  the 
originals  of  which  were  to  be  found  in  a  neighboring  quarter,  to 
which  I  have  already  alluded  as  the  least  reputable  part  of  the 


444 


A  FAIR.— AN  AVIARY. 


city.  We  failed  to  perceive  the  connection  between  them  and  the 
holy  rites  to  which  the  temple  was  dedicated. 

In  the  gardens  surrounding  the  building  we  had  a  still  more 
striking  illustration  of  this  blending  of  the  sacred  with  the  pro¬ 
fane.  In  all  the  grosser  forms  of  superstition,  it  seems  essential 
to  the  very  existence  of  the  religion  that  it  should  contain  a 
strong  infusion  of  the  carnal  and  material  element.  So,  while  the 
priest  inside  was  propitiating  the  many-armed  deity  in  whose  im¬ 
age  he  saw  but  the  representation  of  a  divine  being,  the  congrega¬ 
tion  without  were  paying  their  devotions  to  peep-shows  and  pleas¬ 
ure-booths,  which  had  been  erected  for  their  benefit  in  the  temple- 
grounds. 

These  we  now  proceeded  to  explore.  As  we  approached  them, 
the  tapping  of  tom-toms  and  shrill  whistle  of  pipes  gave  token  of 
gayety  and  merry-making.  The  scene  did  not  differ  materially 
from  an  English  fair.  Aunt  Sally,  under  divers  modifications, 
seems  to  be  a  relative  of  the  universe.  It  is  worthy  of  remark, 
however,  that  gambling  is  not  allowed  by  the  government,  or  even 
games  of  cards.  Here  were  people  throwing  sticks  at  marks,  shoot¬ 
ing  arrows  at  so  much  a  shot,  looking  into  peep-shows  through 
small  slits  in  the  canvas,  or  lounging  through  flower-booths. 
There  was,  indeed,  a  better  show  of  flowers  here,  and  more  curi¬ 
ous  specimens  of  plants,  than  we  had  seen  at  Hojee  ;  the  gardens 
were  more  extensive  and  tastefully  laid  out,  particular  localities 
being  set  apart  for  grandees,  from  which  the  vulgar  herd  are  ex¬ 
cluded  by  cords  stretched  across  the  entrance. 

To  one  of  these  we  retired  for  rest  and  tea ;  then  we  proceeded 
to  inspect  an  aviary  which  contained  an  extensive  collection  of 
birds  interesting  to  the  ornithologist.  Unfortunately,  my  knowl¬ 
edge  of  the  subject  does  not  warrant  my  venturing  to  describe 
them.  There  were  pheasants,  green  pigeons,  rice-birds,  and  tiny 
little  flutterers,  somewhat  resembling  avadavats.  But  the  greater 
part  were  species  with  which  I  was  not  familiar. 

One  young  bird,  apparently  moulting,  and  the  most  hideous 
specimen  of  the  feathered  tribe  I  had  ever  seen,  I  in  vain  endeav¬ 
ored  to  purchase.  It  made  a  noise  corresponding  to  its  disgusting 
personal  appearance — a  wheezing,  spasmodic  choke,  as  if  it  was  in 
the  last  stage  of  suffocation,  or  subject  to  violent  asthmatic  attacks. 
They  assured  me  it  grew  to  a  monstrous  size,  and  would  not  hear 
of  selling  it  for  less  than  thirty  dollars.  It  seemed  scarcely  worth 


SINGULAR  TABLEAUX. 


445 


while  to  pay  so  much  for  the  privilege  of  having  an  asthmathic 
companion  saddled  upon  one  for  the  remainder  of  the  voyage. 
Lord  Elgin,  however,  purchased  a  pair  of  very  beautiful  green 
pigeons,  both  of  which  arrived  safely  in  this  country.  We  now 
went  to  examine  the  shows  in  the  fair.  The  discordant  jangle  of 
musical  instruments  is  resorted  to  in  Japan,  as  in  England,  to  en¬ 
tice  the  passers-by  into  entering  the  mysterious  precincts.  We 
could  not  resist  the  inducement,  the  ever-ready  Tainoske,  as  usual, 
settling  all  our  pecuniary  liabilities. 

Immediately  on  entering,  a  gorgeously  decorated  junk,  almost 
the  size  of  nature,  gayly  freighted  with  a  pleasure-party,  was  sail¬ 
ing  over  an  ocean  so  violently  agitated  that  only  one  result  could 
be  anticipated  in  real  life ;  but  the  junk  was  merely  a  sort  of  scene 
to  conceal  the  exhibition  behind  it.  This  consisted  of  a  series  of 
groups  of  figures  carved  in  wood  the  size  of  life,  and  as  cleverly 
colored  as  Madame  Tussaud’s  wax-works.  No.  1  was  a  group  of 
old  men,  in  which  decrepitude  and  senility  of  countenance  were 
admirably  portrayed.  No.  2,  a  group  of  young  Japanese  Hebes 
dressing,  and  a  country  clodhopper  rooted  to  the  spot  in  ecstasy 
at  the  contemplation  of  their  charms.  The  humor  of  this  tableau 
consisted  in  an  appearance  of  unconsciousness  on  the  part  of  the 
ladies.  No.  3  was  a  princess  in  magnificent  array,  seated  on  a 
dais,  watching  her  maids  of  honor  going  through  divers  gymnas¬ 
tic  performances :  one  of  them  was  in  a  position  more  agile  than 
graceful,  her  occupation  being,  while  extended  on  her  back,  to  keep 
a  ball  dancing  in  the  air  on  the  soles  of  her  feet.  The  attitudes, 
which  were  extremely  difficult  to  represent  correctly  in  wood¬ 
carving,  were  executed  with  wonderful  spirit  and  truth  to  nature. 
No.  4  was  a  group  of  men  quarreling  over  sakee ;  the  fragments 
of  the  cups,  dashed  to  pieces  in  their  anger,  lay  strewn  about. 
Upon  the  countenances  of  two  of  the  men  the  expression  of  un¬ 
governable  rage  was  well  depicted.  The  other  was  leaning  back 
and  laughing  immoderately.  No.  5  was  a  group  of  women  bath¬ 
ing  in  the  sea :  one  of  them  had  been  caught  in  the  folds  of  a  cut¬ 
tle-fish  ;  the  others,  in  alarm,  were  escaping,  leaving  their  compan¬ 
ion  to  her  fate.  The  cuttle-fish  was  represented  on  a  huge  scale, 
its  eyes,  eyelids,  and  mouth  being  made  to  move  simultaneously 
by  a  man  inside  the  head. 

I  have  given  a  somewhat  detailed  account  of  this  “show,”  as 
it  displayed  a  good  deal  of  artistic  talent.  The  subjects  were  char- 


446 


TOY-SHOPS. 


acteristic,  and  it  is  a  fair  sample  of  the  perfection  at  which  the 
Japanese  have  arrived  even  in  the  lowest  walks  of  art. 

We  had  made  arrangements  to  go  some  night  “nayboen”  to 
witness  some  of  their  theatrical  performances :  unfortunately,  with 
many  other  projects,  we  were  compelled  to  abandon  this  one  for 
want  of  time.  From  all  we  could  learn,  however,  we  did  not  miss 
much.  The  theatres  differ  from  those  in  China  in  being  more 
commodiously  arranged,  as  the  spectators  are  all  seated,  and  there 
is  some  attempt  at  stage  scenery.  Boys  perform  the  part  of  wom¬ 
en,  and,  according  to  Thunberg,  there  are  seldom  more  than  two 
actors  on  the  stage  at  the  same  time.  He  states  the  subjects  of 
their  representations  to  be  generally  deeds  of  heroism,  the  loves 
of  their  gods  and  of  their  heroes,  expressed  in  verse.  There  is  a 
drop-scene  as  with  us. 


Japanese  Gymnastics  (from  a  native  drawing). 


We  examined  the  toy-shops  on  our  way  back,  and  bought  won¬ 
derful  Jacks-in-the-box ;  representations  of  animals,  beautifully 
executed  in  straw ;  models  of  norimons  and  Japanese  houses,  as 
neatly  finished  as  Swiss  models ;  figures,  some  of  them  more  hu¬ 
morous  than  decent,  carved  in  wood ;  little  porcelain  figures,  whose 
heads  wagged  and  tongues  shot  out  unexpectedly ;  tortoises,  whose 
head,  legs,  and  tail  were  in  perpetual  motion ;  ludicrous  picture- 
books,  grotesque  masks  and  sham  head-dresses  of  both  sexes. 
Enough  absurd  contrivances  were  here  exhibited  to  create  a  rev- 


ASTRONOMICAL  SYSTEM. 


447 


olution  in  the  nurseries  of  England.  When  we  got  back  into  the 
business  part  of  the  town,  we  stopped  at  a  watchmaker’s  to  buy 
jewelry  and  clocks :  the  former  consisted  chiefly  of  the  sword  or¬ 
naments  already  described,  but  the  latter  were  of  various  descrip¬ 
tions,  some  constructed  on  European  models,  others  fashioned  upon 
a  principle  peculiar  to  Japan,  and  supposed  to  be  more  convenient 
for  the  registration  of  the  singular  division  of  their  time. 

The  twenty-four  hours  are  divided  in  Japan  into  twelve  periods 


Japanese  Astronomers  (from  a  native  drawing). 


of  tipie,  six  of  which  are  appropriated  to  darkness  and  six  to  the 
light.  The  day  being  calculated  from  sunrise  to  sunset,  there  is  a 
necessary  variation  in  the  length  of  the  six  day  and  six  night 
hours,  the  latter  being  the  longest  in  winter,  the  former  in  sum¬ 
mer.  The  clocks  are  altered  periodically  to  suit  the  seasons  of  the 
year.  As  I  never  succeeded  in  comprehending  the  system  by 
which  these  hours  are  numbered,  I  shall  not  venture  upon  any  at¬ 
tempt  at  explanation.  Some  of  the  old  Dutchmen  have,  however, 
mastered  the  mystery,  and  the  reader,  curious  in  the  J apanese  di¬ 
vision  of  time,  can  consult  Kaempfer  or  Siebold.  Their  whole 
chronological  system  is  in  the  highest  degree  complicated;  one 


JAPANESE  PILGRIMAGES 


448 

set  of  cycles  is  fixed  arbitrarily  by  the  mikado,  another  depends 
upon  the  length  of  his  reign ;  while  a  third,  called  the  astronom¬ 
ical  cycle,  is  a  wonderful  combination  of  the  “  ten  elements”  with 
the  twelve  signs  of  the  zodiac. 

We  returned  home  by  a  different  route,  passing  one  quarter, 
dedicated  to  the  sale  of  china,  at  which  we  would  fain  have  stop¬ 
ped.  The  shops  were  upon  a  more  extensive  scale,  and  more 
abundantly  supplied  than  any  we  had  yet  seen.  Unfortunately, 
the  commissioners  were  waiting  for  us,  so  we  pushed  on,  passing 
into  the  outer  inclosure  of  the  citadel  through  an  archway,  the 
buttresses  of  which  were  composed  of  gigantic  blocks  of  stone. 

W e  returned  home  highly  gratified  by  our  visit  to  the  Quanon 
temple ;  altogether,  had  we  been  Japanese,  we  could  scarcely  have 
been  more  assiduous  in  making  pilgrimages  to  holy  places. 
Among  them  such  journeys  are  acts  of  the  highest  merit.  There 
is  the  pilgrimage  which  it  is  incumbent  upon  every  Japanese  to 
perform  once  in  his  life,  while  the  pious  perform  it  annually.  I 


Pilgrims  ascending  a  Mountain  (from  a  native  drawing). 


regretted  that  the  undertaking  must  fall  to  the  lot  of  some  future 
explorer.  It  is  to  the  shrine  of  the  sun-goddess,  Ten-sio-dai-zin, 


MOUNTAIN  PILGRIMS. 


449 


the  patron  divinity  of  Japan,  and  is  situated  at  Isye,  her  supposed 
birthplace.  Another  very  favorite  act  of  devotion,  and  one  in 
which  some  enterprising  Englishman  will  doubtless,  ere  long, 
participate,  is  the  ascent  of  the  celebrated  Fusi-yama,  the  “Match¬ 
less  Mountain,”  the  Mount  Meru  of  Japan.  The  ascent  is  said 
to  occupy  three  days.  Its  rugged  sides  are  always  inhabited  by 
a  sect  of  mountain  priests,  called  Jemmabos.  Their  daughters, 
according  to  Ka0mpfer,  a  beautiful  race,  are  among  the  few  beg¬ 
gars  to  be  met  with  in  the  country.  Their  occupation  is  unhappi¬ 
ly  not  confined  to  begging,  and  their  parents  are  supported  on  the 
contributions  of  the  licentious,  as  well  as  on  the  alms  of  the  pious. 

Another  mendicant  sect  are  the  Fekis,  an  order  of  the  blind,  so 
named  after  their  founder,  a  rebel  prince.  But,  while  Fusi-yama 
is  regarded  as  the  object  of  religious  veneration,  it  is  no  less  ad¬ 
mired  for  its  scenic  beauty,  its  striking  form,  great  elevation,  and 
volcanic  character,  and  has  made  a  deep  impression  on  the  artist¬ 
ic  mind  of  Japan.  It  forms  the  background  of  almost  every 
picture,  and  is  a  favorite  device  on  lacker  and  china ;  sometimes 
covered  with  snow,  at  others  in  a  state  of  eruption,  its  appearance 
during  that  terrific  natural  convulsion  having  been  handed  down 
by  tradition. 

From  an  account  given  in  the  Chinese  Repository,  it  would  ap¬ 
pear  that  the  last  eruption  took  place  in  1707,  on  the  night  of  the 
23d  day  of  the  11th  moon,  when  “two  violent  shocks  of  an  earth¬ 
quake  were  felt.  Mount  Fusi  opened,  vomited  flames,  and  hurl¬ 
ed  cinders  to  the  distance  of  ten  leagues.  Next  day  the  eruption 
ceased,  but  it  was  revived  with  greater  violence  on  the  25th  and 
26th.  Enormous  masses  of  rock,  sand  reddened  by  heat,  and  an 
immense  quantity  of  ashes,  covered  all  the  neighboring  plateau. 
The  ashes  were  driven  to  a  great  distance,  and  fell  several  inches 
thick  at  Yedo.” 

As  Lord  Elgin  was  desirous  of  seeing  some  of  the  national 
sports  and  amusements,  it  had  been  arranged  with  the  commis¬ 
sioners  that  they  should  come  to  dine  with  us,  and  that  previous 
to  the  entertainment  some  wrestlers,  top-spinners,  and  jugglers 
should  exhibit  for  the  benefit  of  our  own  party,  and  a  number  of 
officers  who  were  to  come  on  shore  expressly  to  witness  the  per¬ 
formances.  Unfortunately,  through  some  mistake,  neither  the 
top-spinners  nor  wrestlers  made  their  appearance.  Mr.  Hewsken, 
who  had  seen  both,  pronounced  the  exhibition  of  the  latter  to  be 

F  F 


450 


JAPANESE  WRESTLERS. 


somewhat  disgusting.  From  the  detailed  description  contained 
in  the  account  of  the  American  expedition  to  Japan,  the  sight 
must  resemble  a  human  bull-fight.  The  wrestlers  are  described 


Japanese  Wrestlers  (from  a  native  drawing). 


as  “so  immense  in  flesh  that  they  appeared  to  have  lost  their  dis¬ 
tinctive  features,  and  seemed  only  masses  of  fat.  Their  eyes  were 
barely  visible  through  a  long  perspective  of  socket;  the  promi¬ 
nence  of  their  noses  was  lost  in  the  puffiness  of  their  bloated 
cheeks,  and  their  heads  were  almost  directly  set  upon  their  bodies, 
with  only  folds  of  flesh  where  the  neck  and  chin  are  usually  form¬ 
ed.  Their  great  size,  however,  was  more  owing  to  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  muscle  than  to  the  mere  deposition  of  fat ;  for,  although 
they  were  evidently  well  fed,  they  were  not  the  less  well  exer¬ 
cised,  and  capable  of  great  feats  of  strength.” 

Under  these  circumstances  it  was  perhaps  scarcely  to  be  regret¬ 
ted  that  we  were  not  favored  with  these  gentlemen’s  company. 
The  top-spinners  Mr.  Hewsken  described  as  most  dexterous  in 
their  management  of  this  popular  plaything,  one  great  achieve¬ 
ment  being  to  spin  it  along  a  string  as  though  it  were  dancing  a 
tight-rope. 


A  CONJURING  EXHIBITION.— THE  BUTTERFLY  TRICK.  451 


We  were,  however,  not  disappointed  by  the  juggler ;  he  arrived 
late  in  the  afternoon  with  attendants,  wearing  the  apparatus  indic¬ 
ative  of  his  calling,  and  proceeded  to  convert  Lord  Elgin’s  sitting- 
room  into  a  theatre  for  his  operations.  The  spectators  were  ranged 
on  seats  in  the  garden.  The  conjuror  was  a  venerable  old  man  with 
a  keen  eye,  a  handsome  intelligent  face,  and  a  long  gray  beard, 
the  only  instance  I  saw  in  the  country  of  a  countenance  so  adorn¬ 
ed.  His  dress  was  very  similar  to  that  usually  worn  by  the  magi¬ 
cians  of  Egypt,  and  was  well  calculated  to  increase  his  imposing 
aspect.  Its  ample  folds  and  flowing  sleeves,  moreover,  afforded 
him  many  facilities  in  the  exercise  of  his  sleights  of  hand.  Those 
tricks  which  were  dependent  merely  on  prestidigitation  were  cer¬ 
tainly  not  superior  to  the  ordinary  tricks  of  conjurors  in  other 
countries.  He  produced  inexhaustible  substances  out  of  very 
shallow  boxes,  which  became  unaccountably  full  and  empty,  and 
magically  converted  a  small  quantity  of  cotton  which  he  had  tap¬ 
ped  into  an  egg  upon  his  fan  into  a  number  of  very  substantial 
umbrellas ;  but  these  were  the  mere  tricks  of  the  trade,  the  excel¬ 
lence  of  which  could  best  be  appreciated  by  professional  artists. 
That  about  which  there  was  no  trick,  but  which  struck  us  as  ex¬ 
hibiting  the  most  singular  display  of  skill,  was  the  famous  per¬ 
formance  with,  artificial  butterflies.  These  were  made  in  the  sim¬ 
plest  manner.  A  sheet  of  paper  torn  into  slips  supplied  all  the 
materials.  By  tearing  these  again  into  small  oblong  pieces,  and 
twisting  them  in  the  centre,  they  were  made  roughly  to  represent 
the  body  and  two  wings.  Two  of  these  impromptu  butterflies 
were  then  puffed  into  the  air,  and  kept  in  suspense  there  by  the 
action  of  the  fan  beneath  them.  This  required  to  be  most  care¬ 
fully  and  scientifically  applied,  so  as  not  only  to  prevent  their  sep¬ 
arating,  but  to  guide  their  motions  in  any  required  direction. 
How  they  would  flutter  aloft  as  though  chasing  each  other  in 
playful  dalliance,  at  one  moment  twine  together,  at  another  so  far 
apart  that  it  seemed  a  mystery  how  the  same  fan  could  act  upon 
both.  Then  they  would  settle  together  upon  the  leaf  of  a  neigh¬ 
boring  shrub,  or,  more  curious  still,  alight  gently  on  the  edge  of 
the  fan  itself.  The  intense  attention  which  this  performance  re¬ 
quired  on  the  part  of  the  operator  proved  that,  though  to  the  spec¬ 
tators  the  matter  seemed  easy  enough,  it  called  forth  the  exercise 
of  all  the  faculties,  and  involved,  no  doubt,  a  long  course  of  prac¬ 
tice  before  proficiency  could  be  attained. 


452 


THE  COMMISSIONERS  AT  A  DINNER-PARTY. 


During  the  whole  period  of  his  performances,  the  wizard,  after 
the  manner  of  that  fraternity,  never  ceased  talking ;  and,  to  judge 
by  the  merriment  he  excited  among  the  commissioners,  and  the 
extent  to  which  Higo  was  tickled,  his  remarks  must  have  been  of 
a  highly  facetious  character,  though  he  maintained  himself  the 
most  imperturbable  gravity  throughout. 

When  the  entertainment  was  over  we  adjourned  to  dinner.  As 
this  was  a  more  formidable  meal  than  those  luncheons  at  which 
the  commissioners  had  been  in  the  habit  of  assisting,  they  address¬ 
ed  themselves  to  it  with  becoming  solemnity,  partaking  steadily 
of  every  thing  that  was  offered  to  them,  and  mixing  up  the  most 
incongruous  articles  of  food  in  a  manner  which  was  somewhat  dis¬ 
tressing,  but  difficult  always  to  prevent.  On  the  whole,  they  fed 
more  like  Christians  than  any  other  unchristian  nation  I  have  ever 
seen,  constantly  glancing  at  us  slyly  out  of  the  corners  of  their 
eyes  to  see  what  we  were  eating,  and  how  we  were  doing  it.  At 
last  the  final  act  was  concluded,  and  Lord  Elgin  informed  the  com¬ 
missioners  that,  it  being  the  habit  among  loyal  Englishmen  to 
drink  the  health  of  their  sovereign,  he  was  now  about  to  propose 
that  toast.  This  was  evidently  a  custom  entirely  new  to  them ; 
and  they  had  scarcely  had  time  to  comprehend  its  meaning  before 
their  ears  were  startled  by  the  noisy  “honors”  with  which  it  was 
immediately  followed.  Quickly  taking  their  cue,  however,  the 
three  times  three  had  not  been  rung  out  before  it  was  lustily  join¬ 
ed  in  by  our  guests.  The  next  toast  was  the  health  of  his  majes¬ 
ty  the  Tycoon,  which  was  no  less  uproariously  responded  to,  the 
commissioners  by  this  time  having  arrived  at  a  pitch  of  enthusi¬ 
asm  and  Champagne  which  made  them  enter  warmly  into  the  pro¬ 
ceedings  of  the  evening.  u  When  you  in  the  West  want  to  honor 
a  person  especially,  you  roar  and  shout  after  your  meals.  It  was 
a  curious  custom,  but  they  understood  it  now.”  Indeed,  to  prove 
it,  Sina-nono-kami,  a  very  grave  old  man,  during  a  dead  pause  in 
the  conversation,  suddenly  started  to  his  feet  and  emitted  a  sten¬ 
torian  cheer,  after  which  he  sat  solemnly  down,  the  effect  on  the 
rest  of  the  company  being  to  produce  an  irresistible  shout  of 
laughter. 

But,  though  Sina-nono  made  a  slight  mistake  upon  this  occa¬ 
sion,  it  was  worthy  of  remark  how  easily  our  guests  seemed  to  fall 
into  our  ways,  and  how  quickly  they  adapted  themselves  to  them. 
It  very  soon  occurred  to  them  that  some  sort  of  acknowledgment 
was  due  from  them,  which  they  begged  to  express ;  and  then  Lord 


PRESENTS  TO  THE  MISSION.— CAPACIOUS  DRESSING-GOWNS.  453 

Elgin’s  health  was  drunk,  and  their  own  healths,  and,  by  the  time 
dinner  was  over,  they  had  evidently  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  dinners  and  customs  of  the  English  were  not  devoid  of  merit. 

As  the  period  of  our  departure  from  Yedo  was  approaching, 
the  emperor  had  sent  Lord  Elgin  and  the  members  of  the  mission 
a  number  of  presents.  These  were  all  displayed  in  a  room  at  the 
back  of  the  temple,  and  thither  we  repaired  after  dinner  to  inspect 
them.  The  handsomest  article  was  a  group  of  storks,  beautifully 
worked  in  silver,  about  eighteen  inches  in  height,  and  of  exquisite 
design.  This  was  presented  to  his  excellency.  To  each  of  us 
was  given  a  number  of  rolls  of  silk.  These  were  all  spread  out 
upon  trays,  and  differed  only  in  pattern.  They  were  in  strips 
about  three  yards  in  length  and  one  in  width,  useless,  therefore, 
for  any  practical  purpose. 

Their  chief  merit  consisted  in  the  associations  connected  with 
their  manufacture.  In  Japan,  distinguished  culprits  are  not  sent 
to  a  reformatory  to  make  mats,  but  are  banished  to  an  island  by 
themselves,  where  they  fabricate  silks.  To  enjoy  this  privilege, 
they  must,  however,  be  nobles — exiled  probably  for  political  of¬ 
fenses — as,  according  to  the  criminal  code,  it  is  affirmed  that  jus¬ 
tice  is  meted  out  equally  to  the  prince  and  the  peasant. 

However  that  may  be,  these  silks  were  woven  by  nobles  ban¬ 
ished  to  the  island  of  Fatsizio.  No  man  below  a  certain  rank  is, 
in  consequence,  allowed  to  wear  them,  or  even  to  have  them  in 
their  houses,  so  that  they  are  not  to  be  purchased  in  shops.  Some 
of  the  patterns  were  remarkably  neat  and  tasteful ;  others  were 
somewhat  gaudy.  The  texture  of  the  silk  itself  was  most  sub¬ 
stantial,  and,  from  its  appearance,  I  should  imagine,  durable. 

Commander  Ward,  who  brought  out  the  yacht,  was  presented 
with  a  very  handsome  china  bowl,  curiously  lackered  inside,  and 
a  lackered  cabinet  very  highly  finished.  But  the  most  singular 
item  in  the  list  of  presents  was  the  dressing-gowns  or  robes  of 
state,  for  they  seemed  indiscriminately  applied  to  both  purposes. 
Lord  Elgin  was  overwhelmed  with  about  thirty  of  these,  each  one 
occupying  as  much  space  as  a  large  German  duvet,  and  contain¬ 
ing  an  equal  amount  of  warmth.  We  found  the  deck  of  the  Fu¬ 
rious  piled  with  these  most  inconvenient  articles  of  attire  when 
we  subsequently  went  on  board  of  her,  the  sight  of  which,  with 
the  thermometer  at  80°,  was  the  reverse  of  refreshing ;  while  their 
enormous  dimensions  occupied  half  the  quarter-deck,  and  threat¬ 
ened  to  produce  serious  effects  upon  the  mind  of  the  first  lieuten- 


454 


LAST  NIGHT  IN  YEDO. 


ant.  The  lining  consisted  of  silk  wadding,  a  discovery  we  made 
in  ripping  them  open  to  take  it  out,  as  in  no  other  way  was  it 
possible  to  stow  away  such  bulky  additions  to  one’s  wardrobe. 
The  wadding  proved  most  serviceable  in  packing  egg-shell  china. 

Lord  Elgin,  not  having  been  supplied  with  any  suitable  pres¬ 
ents  to  bestow  in  return  for  this  manifestation  of  good-will  on  the 
part  of  his  majesty,  was  compelled  to  make  a  selection  from  the 
ship’s  stores  of  the  Furious,  of  which  he  requested  the  acceptance 
of  the  commissioners.  They  seemed  perfectly  satisfied  with  the 
flannel,  blue  cloth,  soap,  and  chocolate,  which  was  abundantly 
pressed  upon  them,  and  more  especially  appreciated  the  addition 
of  some  rifles  and  carbines. 

It  was  with  no  little  reluctance  that  we  parted  late  in  the  even¬ 
ing  ;  it  was  our  last  night  in  Yedo.  We  looked  forward  with  hor¬ 
ror  to  a  return  to  that  empire,  the  reverse  of  celestial,  with  which 
so  many  disagreeable  associations  were  connected,  and  looked  back 
with  regret  on  the  few  but  happy  days  we  had  passed  in  the  cap¬ 
ital  of  Japan.  The  life  of  a  traveler  is  a  succession  of  such  expe¬ 
riences  ;  he  has  long  since  ceased  to  growl  at  them,  for  they  point 
the  moral  of  his  metier ,  and  furnish  him  with  a  philosophy  which 
should  avail  him  at  all  times  and  in  all  lands,  even  in  that  retire¬ 
ment  to  which  he  will  probably  be  doomed  on  his  return  to  his 
own  country. 


Travelers  in  a  Snow-storm  (from  a  native  drawing). 


SETTLING-DAY. 


455 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

% 

Settling-day. — Japanese  Currency. — Gold  and  silver  Coins. — The  Currency  Diffi¬ 
culty. — Japanese  Packing. — Signing  of  the  Treaty. — Death  of  the  Tycoon  “Nay- 
boen.” — Probable  Cause  of  his  Death. — Profound  Secrecy  observed. ^-Evacuation 
of  our  Lodgings. — Presentation  of  the  Yacht. — Parting  Scenes. 

The  26th  of  August  was  the  day  fixed  for  the  signing  of  the 
treaty.  On  that  day  two  months  before,  the  Treaty  of  Tientsin 
had  been  signed  under  very  different  circumstances. 

From  the  earliest  hour  of  the  morning  our  abode  was  a  scene 
of  turmoil  and  bustle.  The  day’s  programme  was  so  extensive, 
it  seemed  quite  hopeless  to  get  through  it.  The  hubbub  in  the 
apartment  assigned  to  our  J apanese  retinue  was  so  constant  that 
I  went  to  investigate  the  cause.  Here  were  collected  tradesmen 
who  had  all  come  to  have  their  “little  bills”  settled  under  gov¬ 
ernment  auspices;  visitors  who  came  to  take  a  last  look  at  the 
English  strangers;  many  faces  familiar  to  us  as  attendants  on 
sundry  expeditions;  our  old  servants  and  spies;  and  presiding 
over  all,  a  functionary  appointed  by  the  lieutenant  governor  to 
superintend  arrangements,  settle  disputes  should  any  arise,  and  re¬ 
port  upon  all  matters  connected  with  the  foreigners. 

An  amount  of  tea  and  tobacco  was  being  consumed  sufficient 
to  fumigate  a  seventy-four,  and  float  her  afterward.  Piled  up  in 
corners  were  Japanese  costumes  ordered  by  one  gentleman ;  teth¬ 
ered  opposite  were  two  little  Japanese  dogs  ordered  by  another. 
Stacked  against  the  wall  were  a  number  of  swords,  heaped  near 
them  a  quantity  of  books,  articles  which  it  was  impossible  to  get 
the  first  day,  but  which  were  coming  in  readily  enough  now. 

Unfortunately  all  these  had  to  be  paid  for.  The  settling  of 
these  formidable  accounts  loomed  in  prospect,  all  the  more  dread¬ 
ful  from  the  solemnity  of  the  process.  Two  old  Japanese,  senior 
wranglers  probably  of  their  year,  with  corrugated  foreheads  and 
countenances  betokening  unlimited  sagacity,  stalked  gravely  in, 
with  attendants  carrying  balances,  scales,  weights,  pens,  ink,  and 
paper,  and  seated  themselves  in  the  centre  of  the  dining-room. 
Then  approached  tremblingly  the  shop-keeper  and  the  victim 
who  was  to  pay  him.  The  latter  had  a  strong  presentiment  that 


456 


JAPANESE  CURRENCY. 


all  the  dollars  in  his  possession,  nay,  even  the  entire  amount  of 
the  handsome  annual  income  he  enjoyed,  in  consideration  of  the 
valuable  services  he  was  rendering  his  country  in  these  distant 
regions,  would  be  insufficient  to  meet  the  terrific  expenditure  he 
had  been  induced  to  incur  in  this  seductive  city.  Anxiously  he 
emptied  his  bag  of  dollars  into  one  scale  of  the  balance.  The  sil¬ 
ver  itzibus  in  the  other  kicked  the  beam.  Moment  of  intense  re¬ 
lief!  he  remained  the  happy  possessor  of  two  dollars,  having,  it 
must  be  premised,  previously  borrowed  as  much  from  all  his 
neighbors  as  they  could  possibly  spare.  There  was  very  little 
discussion  over  the  settlement.  The  officials  came  provided  with 
an  exact  list  furnished  by  the  shopkeepers ;  they  knew  how  much 
each  of  us  owed  the  moment  we  gave  our  names.  The  amount 
had  been  added  up.  There  was  no  discrepancy  in  our  accounts ; 
the  right  number  of  itzibus  were  in  the  balance ;  nothing  remain¬ 
ed  but  to  weigh  our  dollars  against  them.  Then  the  itzibus  were 
handed  to  the  shopkeepers,  and  the  dollars  retained  by  the  gov¬ 
ernment. 

The  currency  of  the  country  consists  of  a  great  variety  of  gold, 
silver,  and  copper  coins.  These  are  all  specified  at  great  length 
in  Thunberg,  but  our  observation  does  not  quite  agree  with  his 
information  on  the  subject.  The  largest  gold  coin  known  is  the 
obang,  a  most  inconvenient  circulating  medium,  as  it  is  nearly  six 
inches  in  length  and  three  inches  and  a  half  in  breadth.  I  did 
not  see  a  specimen  of  this  unwieldy  piece  of  gold.  It  is  estimated 
in  value  at  £20  sterling,  but  is  not  in  common  use.  The  gold 
coin  in  ordinary  circulation  is  the  cobang :  it  is  about  two  inches 
and  a  half  in  length,  and  an  inch  and  a  quarter  wide.  Its  ex¬ 
treme  thinness,  however,  diminishes  its  value ;  it  is  intrinsically 
worth  £1  10s.  Although  I  saw  this  coin,  I  was  unfortunate  in 
not  being  able  to  procure  one.  We  found  the  greatest  difficulty 
in  obtaining  specimens  of  the  currency  of  the  country,  and  I 
came  away  at  last  the  possessor  of  a  solitary  itzibu.  These  are 
either  of  gold  or  silver:  the  gold  itzibu  is  a  small  oblong  piece  of 
money,  intrinsically  worth  about  seven  and  sixpence.  The  intrin¬ 
sic  value  of  the  gold  half-itzibu,  which  is  not  too  large  to  convert 
into  a  shirt-stud,  is  about  one  and  tenpence. 

1  have  spoken  of  the  intrinsic  value  of  these  coins,  because  by 
the  treaty  our  gold  should  pass  in  Japan  for  its  corresponding 
weight  in  Japanese  gold ;  but  inasmuch  as  it  is  not  nearly  so  pure 


THE  CURRENCY  DIFFICULTY. 


457 


as  that  of  Japan,  there  must  always  be  a  difference  between  its 
actual  and  intrinsic  value.  The  value  of  silver  in  Japan  is  as 
nearly  as  possible  the  same  as  it  is  with  us.  The  silver  itzibus, 
against  which  our  dollars  were  weighed,  were  worth  rather  more 
than  a  shilling  apiece.  These  are  divided  into  half  and  quarter 
itzibus,  and  at  last  we  descend  to  the  lowest  medium,  copper  and 
iron  cash.  Most  of  these  coins  have  the  stamp  of  the  mint  upon 
them,  consisting  of  some  Japanese  characters,  as  well  as  the  print 
of  flowers,  like  fleurs-de-lis  and  other  devices. 

The  dollars  which  we  paid  in  lieu  of  this  money,  together  with 
all  the  foreign  coin  that  has  entered  the  government  treasury  since 
the  signing  of  the  treaty,  have  been  melted  down  and  coined  into 
a  new  currency,  the  circulation  of  which,  I  regret  to  observe  by 
the  last  accounts  from  Japan,  the  government,  in  opposition  to 
the  spirit  of  the  treaty,  has  endeavored  to  confine  to  commercial 
transactions  with  foreigners.  It  was  to  avoid  the  inconveniences 
arising  out  of  the  former  system  that  the  currency  clause  was  in¬ 
serted  in  the  treaty,  by  which  it  is  stipulated  that  “  all  foreign 
coin  shall  be  current  in  Japan,  and  shall  pass  for  its  correspond¬ 
ing  weight  in  Japanese  coin  of  the  same  description.  British  and 
Japanese  subjects  may  freely  use  foreign  or  Japanese  coin  in  mak¬ 
ing  payment  to  each  other.”  By  the  term  Japanese  coin  was  in¬ 
tended  the  then  existing  currency  of  the  empire.  Instead  of  ac¬ 
cepting  this  as  the  meaning  of  the  clause,  however,  the  Japanese 
government  has  issued  a  new  coin  called  a  nichon,  which  is  in¬ 
trinsically  worth  about,  and  is  declared  current  at,  half  a  dollar : 
it  is  not  allowed,  however,  to  pass  current  among  the  people,  and 
the  Japanese  merchant  is  consequently  compelled  to  take  them  to 
the  government  treasury,  where  he  is  obliged  to  receive  one  old 
itzibu,  worth  about  one  shilling  and  twopence,  in  exchange  for 
two  nichons,  worth  four  and  twopence.  It  is  evident  that  this 
arrangement  must  operate  as  an  actual  bar  to  trade.  The  mo¬ 
tives  which  may  have  induced  the  government  to  adopt  it  I  shall 
consider  presently.  Meantime  we  may  be  thankful  that  our  own 
account  is  settled,  and  it  only  now  behooves  us  to  pack  up  our 
purchases. 

We  have  had  gigantic  deal  cases  ordered  some  days  back,  and 
the  skill  of  Japanese  carpenters  has  been  displayed  in  the  finish 
and  solid  workmanship  of  our  boxes ;  but  it  is  a  serious  question 
whether  that  mountain  of  lacker  and  those  pyramids  of  china  can 


458 


SIGNING  OF  THE  TREATY. 


be  disposed  of  in  their  recesses.  We  have  dreadful  visions  of  un¬ 
packing  them  at  some  future  day,  and  finding  all  that  delicate 
egg-shell,  those  charming  devices,  which  are  to  be  the  wonder  and 
delight  of  our  friends  at  home,  crushed  into  infinitesimal  atoms. 
Fortunately,  every  piece  of  china  has  a  little  box  to  itself,  the  lid 
of  which  fits  to  perfection,  and  the  contents  have  been  so  carefully 
swathed  in  cotton  by  the  shopkeeper  that  we  don’t  venture  to 
open  them.  Every  piece  of  lacker  has  been  similarly  cared  for, 
and  we  put  a  blind  trust  in  the  Japanese  packers,  and  stow  away 
our  fragile  purchases  hopefully  amid  a  universal  hammering,  and 
bargaining,  and  settling,  and  packing,  until  at  last  we  know  that 
the  luncheon  hour  has  stolen  upon  us  by  the  opportune  arrival 
of  the  commissioners,  who  are  much  amused  at  the  apparent  con¬ 
fusion  which  reigns  every  where. 

The  signing  of  the  treaty  was  a  most  solemn  and  serious  opera¬ 
tion,  inasmuch  as  there  were  copies  made  in  Dutch,  Japanese,  and 
English,  of  which  each  were  in  triplicate,  and  each  required  the 
signatures  of  Lord  Elgin  and  the  six  commissioners,  besides  sun¬ 
dry  additional  clauses  to  be  signed  separately ;  no  fewer  than 
eighty-four  signatures  had  to  be  appended.  Some  of  the  com¬ 
missioners  were,  moreover,  very  particular  in  making  pretty  sig¬ 
natures,  and  painted  away  at  the  hieroglyphics  which  represented 
their  names  with  evident  care  and  anxiety.  Others,  friend  Higo, 
for  instance,  dashed  away  with  his  brush,  perfectly  regardless  of 
the  opinion  which  people  in  England  might  form  of  his  hand¬ 
writing.  The  process  of  sealing,  unknown  to  them,  created  a 
good  deal  of  interest  and  curiosity ;  and  afterward,  when  Lord 
Elgin  proposed  an  interchange  of  pens,  he  having  purposely  made 
use  of  six  different  ones,  the  admiral  appropriately  remarked  that 
he  gladly  availed  himself  of  this  opportunity  of  inaugurating  the 
interchange  of  the  products  of  the  two  countries,  which  he  trusted 
might  ever  be  marked  with  that  interchange  of  good  feeling  which 
had  characterized  our  mutual  interchange  hitherto. 

Then  came  Moriyama’s  turn  to  receive  those  compliments  which 
his  skill  and  ability  amply  justified.  He  had  made  a  copy  of  the 
treaty  in  Dutch,  the  caligraphy  of  which  would  have  been  a  credit 
to  a  Dutch  writing-master;  and  he  smirked  and  smiled  like  a 
bashful  young  lady  on  having  his  performance  eulogized.  By 
this  time  the  ceremony  was  concluded,  and  the  treaty  had  been 
ratified  in  a  loving  cup,  in  anticipation  of  that  future  day  when  it 


DEATH  OF  THE  TYCOON  “NAYBOEN.” 


459 


should  be  more  formally  recognized  by  our  respective  sovereigns. 
We  found  that  a  grand  banquet  had  been  provided  for  us  by  the 
emperor,  who  sent  Lord  Elgin  a  great  many  civil  speeches,  ex¬ 
pressed  in  the  warmest  terms  his  regret  at  never  having  been  able 
to  receive  him,  and  wished  him  a  brilliant  career,  and  future  suc¬ 
cess  and  prosperity. 

Fortunately  we  were  spared,  at  the  time,  that  shock  which  the 
nerves  of  the  susceptible  reader  will  sustain,  when  he  learns  that 
his  majesty  the  Tycoon  had  taken  his  departure  “nayboen”  from 
the  domestic  and  political  troubles  of  this  weary  world  about  the 
period  of  our  arrival  in  Yedo,  and  was  now  in  the  realm  of  the 
kamis,  little  heedful,  probably,  of  the  affairs  of  his  late  temporal 
kingdom,  and  rapt  in  the  contemplation  of  u  Xim  which  is  the 
principle  of  every  thing.” 

We  were  not  informed  of  this  melancholy  event  until  the  re¬ 
turn  of  the  French  mission  from  Yedo  to  Shanghai,  about  two 
months  afterward.  The  fact  had  then  been  made  public,  and  the 
whole  city  was  in  mourning.  Our  only  consolation  was  that  ev¬ 
ery  body  else  had  been  taken  in  as  well  as  ourselves.  The  de¬ 
ceit  which  had  been  practiced  was  in  no  way  referable  to  the 
presence  of  foreigners.  The  custom  of  the  country  is,  that  for  six 
weeks  after  the  death  of  a  tycoon  it  shall  be  kept  profoundly  se¬ 
cret,  until  the  successor  is  firmly  seated  on  the  vacant  throne,  and 
all  possibility  of  any  disputes  with  reference  to  it  is  removed. 
Of  whom  consist  the  favored  few  whose  office  it  is  to  gull  every 
body  else,  I  was  not  informed ;  doubtless  the  crown  princes,  and 
probably  the  council,  so  that  it  is  just  possible  that  our  friends 
the  commissioners  were  themselves  ignorant  of  the  fact.  If  they 
were  not,  they  had  certainly  attained  a  high  proficiency  in  the  art 
of  living  a  lie,  for  the  conversation  frequently  turned  upon  the 
emperor’s  health,  and  they  sometimes  volunteered  the  information 
that  it  was  so  much  improved  that,  after  all,  an  audience  might  be 
practicable. 

It  was  a  still  more  gratuitous  piece  of  false  intelligence  on  their 
part  to  tell  us  the  story  of  his  adopting  a  son ;  nor  can  one  clear¬ 
ly  perceive  the  object  of  the  fable. 

We  never  exactly  learned  the  date  of  his  death.  The  Dutch, 
who  are  perhaps  a  little  jealous  at  the  rapidity  of  our  success,  de¬ 
clare  that  he  put  an  end  to  himself  during  our  stay  in  Yedo,  in 
consequence  of  the  difficulties  in  which  the  policy  of  his  govern- 


460 


PRESENTATION  OF  THE  YACHT. 


ment  with  regard  to  foreigners  was  involving  him.  The  French, 
on  the  other  hand,  assert  that  he  died  shortly  after  Mr.  Harris’s 
treaty  was  signed,  overcome,  possibly,  by  that  event ;  while  Mr. 
Harris  himself,  who  had  an  audience  with  his  majesty,  described 
him  to  us  as  a  wretchedly  delicate-looking  man,  and  a  victim  to 
epilepsy.  It  is  therefore  most  probable  that  his  death  was  the  re¬ 
sult  of  natural  causes,  and  occurred  about  the  time  of  our  arrival. 
This  is  taking  the  French  account,  and  calculating  upon  an  inter¬ 
val  of  six  weeks  intervening  between  the  occurrence  of  the  event 
and  its  being  made  public. 

Under  all  circumstances,  it  is  a  striking  illustration  of  the  per¬ 
fect  organization  which  pervades  all  classes  of  society,  and  of  the 
system  to  which  all  possible  contingencies  and  events  are  by  law 
reduced.  Many  retainers  and  servants  in  the  palace  must  have 
been  aware  of  the  circumstance.  A  burial  of  some  sort  probably 
took  place.  It  is  difficult  to  conceive,  even  if  it  did  not,  how  such 
absolute  and  entire  secrecy  could  have  been  maintained,  or  to  im¬ 
agine  it  possible  that  the  female  part  of  the  establishment,  some 
of  whom  must  have  been  cognizant  of  so  important  an  event, 
should  have  been  able  to  preserve  a  discreet  silence  upon  it. 

Certain  it  is  that  the  world  at  large  were  as  little  conscious  of 
it  as  we  were,  when,  doing  justice  to  the  dinner  of  our  defunct 
entertainer,  we  drank  his  health  in  hot  sakee. 

The  most  important  part  of  the  day’s  work  was  yet  to  come. 
The  yacht  was  still  flying  the  British  ensign,  and  the  ceremony 
of  handing  her  over  to  her  new  owners  was  to  be  the  occupation 
of  the  afternoon.  The  commissioners  had  already  started  off  to 
attire  themselves  in  the  robes  appropriate  to  the  occasion.  It 
happened  to  be  Prince  Albert’s  birthday,  and  the  usual  salutes 
had  already  been  fired,  the  ships  remaining  dressed  out  all  day. 
In  one  of  the  Japanese  forts  no  small  amount  of  excitement 
reigned.  For  the  first  time  in  the  annals  of  Japan  a  salute  was 
to  be  fired  in  honor  of  a  foreign  flag.  This  was  a  concession 
which  had  never  before  been  made  to  any  nation,  and  we  were 
curious  to  observe  how  the  performance  would  be  executed. 
Meantime  our  sacred  lodgings  were  beginning  to  assume  a  melan¬ 
choly  and  deserted  appearance ;  servants  and  baggage  were  mov¬ 
ing  about  the  yard,  sturdy  Japanese  porters  pervaded  our  sleep¬ 
ing  apartments.  We  took  a  lingering  look  at  our  quaint  abode, 
so  comfortable,  and  yet  so  unlike  any  house  that  any  body  had 


EVACUATION  OE  OUR  LODGINGS. 


461 


ever  lived  in  before,  and  with  a  sigh  of  regret  mounted  our  steeds 
for  the  last  time.  The  sensation  is  not  unlike  that  which  is  felt 
if,  when  very  hot  and  thirsty,  one  is  stopped  in  the  middle  of  a 
delicious  draught  of  beer,  having  only  had  time  to  swallow  two 
mouthfuls.  However,  we  were  not  destined  to  have  “more;”  so 
we  rode  again  down  the  main  street,  through  crowds  as  dense  as 
those  which  had  greeted  us  on  our  first  arrival,  and,  seating  our¬ 
selves  once  again  in  the  barge,  pushed  off  from  that  shore  on 
which  we  had  spent  nine  such  interesting  and  exciting  days. 

We  found  the  commissioners  had  preceded  us,  and  were  now 
strutting  about  the  deck  of  the  yacht  in  all  the  bravery  of  their 
resplendent  costumes.  I  had  no  notion  that  it  entered  into  Jap¬ 
anese  customs  to  wear  such  dresses.  They  are  only  donned  on 
festive  occasions,  such  as  this  was  supposed  to  be. 

Higo  was  literally  covered  with  crabs,  some  of  them  large 
enough  to  be  an  honor  to  an  English  sea-port.  The  dress  was 
embroidered  silk,  with  these  crabs  in  raised  silver,  standing  out 
in  high  relief.  Another  of  the  commissioners  flaunted  about 
with  a  robe  ornamented  with  the  cheerful  device  of  a  skull. 
Each  had  his  peculiar  emblem,  worked  on  a  large  scale,  on  his 
breast  and  back.  Though  somewhat  gaudy  and  fantastic  in  de¬ 
tail,  the  general  effect  was  striking  and  imposing. 

Lord  Elgin  now  formally  addressed  the  commissioners,  hand¬ 
ing  over  to  them,  on  behalf  of  her  majesty,  the  yacht  which  she 
had  presented  to  the  Tycoon  as  a  token  of  friendship  and  good¬ 
will.  Then  down  came  the  English  ensign,  and  up  went  the  red 
balls  on  the  white  ground,  the  signal  for  the  forts  to  salute ;  and 
the  puff  curling  over  the  blue  waters  of  the  bay,  and  followed  by 
a  dull  roar,  proved  how  well  the  Japanese  signal-man  had  kept 
his  watch. 

With  perfect  precision,  the  native  gunners  fired  twenty -one 
guns  with  an  interval  of  ten  seconds  between  each.  The  weather 
was  lovely,  the  bay  was  alive  with  pleasure-boats — the  wonder- 
struck  Japanese  listening  to  their  own  forts  conducting  themselves 
in  this  totally  unprecedented  manner.  Then  came  the  sharp, 
ringing  response  from  the  68-pounders  of  the  Retribution  and 
Furious,  and  the  yacht  got  slowly  under  weigh,  commanded  by  a 
Japanese  captain,  manned  by  Japanese  sailors,  and  her  machinery 
worked  by  Japanese  engineers.  Notwithstanding  the  horizontal 
cylinders  and  other  latest  improvements  with  which  her  engines 


462 


PARTING  SCENES. 


were  fitted,  the  men  had  learned  their  lesson  well,  and  were  con¬ 
fident  in  their  powers.  W e  steamed  gallantly  through  the  fleets, 
the  admiration  of  all  beholders,  whether  British  or  J apanese.  A 
brilliant  sunset  added  its  glories  to  this  lively  and  attractive  scene. 
The  shores  of  the  bay  were  lined  with  people ;  in  places  green 
wooded  banks  came  down  to  the  water,  and  the  smoke  from  their 
guns  still  rested  upon  the  island  forts.  Many-colored  flags  flut¬ 
tered  in  the  breeze,  hundreds  of  boats  flitted  to  and  fro  on  the 
still  waters  of  the  bay  ;  while,  rearing  its  conical  summit  far  into 
the  blue  sky,  old  Fusi-yama  formed  a  noble  background  to  a  pic¬ 
ture  such  as  had  never  before  been  witnessed  in  the  course  of  all 
the  many  centuries  during  which  this  majestic  peak  has  presided 
over  the  capital  of  Dai  Nipon.  Captain  Barker  had  prepared  a 
feast  for  the  commissioners  on  board  the  Retribution,  and  they 
examined  the  fittings  of  this  handsome  vessel  with  much  interest. 
At  last  the  moment  of  parting  arrived,  and,  amid  many  demon¬ 
strations  of  affection  on  both  sides,  they  bade  us  a  final  farewell. 

As  night  closed  in,  the  golden  sun  was  followed  by  a  moon 
which  had  borrowed  a  lustre  from  the  reflected  rays  of  the  lumin¬ 
ary  it  rivaled.  Then  rockets  shot  into  the  heavens,  and  blue- 
lights  burned  at  the  yard-arms,  and  the  rows  of  forts  were  illu¬ 
minated  in  quick  reply.  The  long  day  was  over  at  last,  and  with 
it  we  felt  that  our  Japanese  experiences  had  finally  terminated. 
They  had  been  marked  by  an  interest  and  a  novelty  not  to  be 
surpassed,  and  by  a  success,  in  a  political  point  of  view,  scarcely 
to  have  been  anticipated.  The  26th  of  August,  1858,  will  be  a 
date  long  to  be  remembered  by  all  of  us  who  shared  in  the  singu¬ 
lar  and  interesting  proceedings  of  that  day;  but  it  will  be  an 
epoch  in  the  history  of  the  Japanese  empire,  and,  in  centuries  to 
come,  natives  and  foreigners  will  alike  record  with  interest  the 
anniversary  of  an  event  pregnant^  with  such  important  results  to 
commerce  and  civilization. 


FUTURE  PROSPECTS. 


463 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

Future  Prospects. — Civilization  of  Japan. — The  Effect  of  the  Treaty. — Dutch  Sub¬ 
serviency. — Interviews  of  the  Dutch  with  the  Tycoon. — Policy  to  be  pursued. — 
Necessity  of  mercantile  Morality. — Resources  of  Japan. — Commercial  Intercourse 
with  China. — Government  Interference. — Chow-chow  Cargoes. — Competition  with 
native  Manufactures. — Probable  Demand  for  woolen  Manufactures,  etc. — Vege¬ 
table  Products. — Japan  Wax. — Mineral  Resources. — Commercial  Prospects. — 
Leave  Japan. — The  Port  of  Hiogo. — Ohosaka. — Kioto. — Caught  in  a  Typhoon. — 
Arrival  at  Shanghai. 

Before  bidding  a  final  adieu  to  Japan,  it  may  be  interesting 
to  cast  a  brief  glance  at  the  present  state  and  future  prospects  of 
our  political  and  commercial  relations  with  that  empire.  In  the 
account  which  I  have  given  of  our  intercourse  with  its  officials 
and  people  generally,  I  have  endeavored  to  convey  honestly  the 
impression  produced  upon  our  minds  during  our  brief  experience 
among  them.  These  impressions  coincided  thoroughly  with  the 
accounts  we  received  from  Dutch  and  American  gentlemen,  whose 
acquaintance  with  the  country  had  dated  from  a  longer  period; 
but  it  is  more  than  probable  that,  as  our  relations  with  the  Japa¬ 
nese  become  more  extended,  the  character  they  will  receive  at  our 
hands  will  be  less  favorable.  This  may  arise  from  two  causes. 
In  the  first  place,  they  will  very  probably  be  provoked  and  irri¬ 
tated  into  an  antagonism  to  us  by  the  overbearing  and  insolent 
behavior,  common,  unhappily,  to  a  certain  class  of  our  country¬ 
men  when  brought  into  contact  with  semi-civilized  races ;  and,  in 
the  second,  even  those  among  us  who  are  superior  to  any  such 
imputation  rarely  make  allowances  for  different  moral  standards, 
and  altogether  dissimilar  habits  and  modes  of  thought  from  those 
to  which  they  are  themselves  accustomed.  They  forget,  for  in¬ 
stance,  that  truth  is  a  virtue  unknown  except  to  a  mere  fraction 
of  the  human  family — that,  as  a  general  rule,  a  strict  adherence 
to  truth  is  to  be  met  with  only  in  countries  peopled  by  races 
among  whom  chivalry  has  existed  as  an  institution.  To  the  east 
of  Europe  I  have  ever  found  it  regarded  rather  as  a  weakness 
than  a  virtue — a  fact  which  in  no  way  militates  against  Asiatics 
being  in  some  respects  superior  to  Europeans. 

It  is  nevertheless  possible  that  many  persons  will  go  to  Japan, 


464 


THE  EFFECT  OF  THE  TREATY. 


and,  because  they  do  not  find  a  code  of  honor  corresponding  to 
our  own,  complain  that  the  moral  qualities  of  the  people  have 
been  overstated. 

The  civilization  of  Japan  differs  entirely  from  that  of  any  other 
country,  and  if  we  expect  them  to  meet  us  half  way  in  the  spirit 
of  advancement  and  progression  common  to  the  West,  we  shall 
be  grievously  disappointed.  There  are,  it  is  true,  among  the  aris¬ 
tocracy  of  Japan  men  who  are  said  to  be  really  desirous  of  admit¬ 
ting  foreigners  into  the  empire,  and  of  deriving  for  their  country¬ 
men  all  the  advantages  which  may  be  gained  by  a  liberal  and 
progressive  policy.  Some  nobles  of  this  party  were  in  power  at 
the  time  of  our  arrival  there,  and  violent  discussions  were  report¬ 
ed  to  have  taken  place  as  to  the  policy  to  be  pursued ;  for,  with 
the  majority  of  the  aristocracy,  the  prejudices  even  of  two  centu¬ 
ries  could  not  be  removed  at  a  bound. 

With  them  that  exclusive  system,  which  originated  in  the  dis¬ 
covery  of  the  ambitious  designs  and  treacherous  machinations  of 
the  first  Europeans  with  whom  they  came  in  contact,  was  at  last 
abandoned  only  under  the  influence  of  fear.  The  cordiality  of 
our  reception  at  Yedo  was,  in  certain  quarters,  the  mask  which  a 
somewhat  shallow  diplomacy  led  them  to  assume,  in  order  to  avert 
a  danger  they  deemed  imminent,  and  which  they  dared  not  meet. 
They  fancied  they  saw  impending  over  them  the  fate  of  India,  and 
they  believed  that  the  only  alternative  was  to  grant  us  concessions 
such  as  we  had  already  wrung  from  China.  It  is  only  fair  to  our¬ 
selves  to  say  that  they  were  entirely  mistaken  in  this  assumption. 
The  treaty  with  America  had  already  been  made,  and  ours  follow¬ 
ed  as  a  matter  of  course ;  but  it  is  scarcely  to  be  wondered  at  that, 
when  this  fear  was  removed,  the  liberals  should  be  at  a  discount, 
and  their  opponents  should  endeavor,  even  at  the  expense  of  good 
faith,  to  retreat  from  engagements  they  would  never  willingly 
have  entered  into,  more  especially  when  encouraged  by  the  intel¬ 
ligence  that  the  Chinese  government  had  already  commenced  to 
pursue  the  same  policy  with  success. 

With  a  crude  knowledge  of  the  sacredness  of  treaty  obligations, 
and  an  instinctive  dread  of  the  aggressive  tendencies  of  people 
from  the  West,  the  old  Japanese  party  seem  now  inclined  to  ig¬ 
nore  stipulations  actually  ratified  by  the  government.  If  we  hope 
to  conduct  relations  with  Japan  upon  a  satisfactory  footing,  our 
true  policy  is  to  intimate  distinctly  to  the  government  that  we  in- 


INTERVIEWS  OF  THE  DUTCH  WITH  THE  TYCOON.  405 


tend  to  enforce  every  one  of  our  rights  to  the  uttermost  letter. 
The  subserviency  of  the  Dutch  for  upward  of  two  centuries  will 
doubtless  render  it  more  difficult  for  us  to  maintain  our  relations 
upon  that  footing  of  equality,  without  which  the  evil  results  of  a 
false  position  must  necessarily  ensue,  than  if  no  intercourse  had 
hitherto  existed  between  Japan  and  European  countries. 

In  order  to  appreciate  the  pitch  to  which  the  Dutch  carried 
their  compliance  with  the  humiliating  code  of  court  etiquette 
forced  upon  them  by  the  Japanese  government,  it  is  worth  while 
glancing  at  the  account  which  we  have  received  from  the  vera¬ 
cious  Ksempfer  of  the  ceremonies  of  the  audience  at  Yedo  between 
the  resident  of  the  Dutch  factory  and  the  temporal  emperor.  “  As 
soon  as  the  resident  entered  the  hall  of  audience,”  says  the  old 
German  physician,  “they  cried  out  ‘Holanda  captain,’  which  was 
the  signal  for  him  to  draw  near  and  make  his  obeisances.  Ac¬ 
cordingly,  he  crawled  on  his  hands  and  knees  to  a  place  shown 
him,  between  the  presents  ranged  in  due  order  on  one  side,  and 
the  place  where  the  emperor  sat  on  the  other;  and  there  kneel¬ 
ing,  he  bowed  -his  forehead  quite  down  to  the  ground,  and  so 
crawled  backward,  like  a  crab,  without  uttering  a  single  word. 
So  mean  and  short  a  thing  is  the  audience  we  have  with  this 
mighty  monarch.” 

This  was  the  form  of  the  audience  of  ceremony,  but  now  let  us 
see  what  took  place  on  the  next  occasion,  when  his  Japanese  maj¬ 
esty  condescended  to  unbend.  After  the  members  of  the  Dutch 
mission  had,  to  use  the  word  of  the  same  writer,  crept  into  the 
audience  chamber,  “  the  emperor  sat  himself  on  our  right  behind 
the  lattices,  as  near  as  he  possibly  could.  Then  he  ordered  us  to 
take  off  our  cappa  or  cloak,  being  our  garment  of  ceremony ;  then 
to  stand  upright,  that  he  might  have  a  full  view  of  us ;  again  to 
walk,  to  stand  still,  to  compliment  each  other,  to  dance,  to  jump, 
to  play  the  drunkard,  to  speak  broken  Japanese,  to  read  Dutch, 
to  paint,  to  sing,  to  put  our  cloaks  on  and  off.  Meanwhile  we 
obeyed  the  emperor’s  commands  in  the  best  manner  we  could.  I 
joined  to  my  dance  a  love-song  in  High  German.  In  this  man¬ 
ner,  and  with  numerous  other  such  apish  tricks,  we  must  suffer 
ourselves  to  contribute  to  the  emperor’s  and  the  court’s  diversion.” 

In  the  present  state  of  our  political  relations,  not  only  with  Jap¬ 
an,  but  with  China,  it  is  most  important  that  we  should  recall  the 
history  of  the  earlier  intercourse  which  Europeans  maintained 

G  G- 


466 


POLICY  TO  BE  PURSUED. 


with  those  countries,  as  tending  to  encourage  in  these  semi-civil¬ 
ized  courts  that  assumption  of  superiority  which  must  sooner  or 
later  be  resisted,  and  to  which  may  be  traced  all  the  political  com¬ 
plications  which  have  arisen,  or  are  likely  to  arise,  with  those  em¬ 
pires. 

We  are  at  this  moment  suffering  in  China  from  the  false  posi¬ 
tion  which  we  assumed  during  those  years  when  our  trade  was 
confined  to  Canton  and  governed  by  a  monopoly  of  Hong  mer¬ 
chants,  and  when  we  submitted  to  restrictions  and  indignities,  not 
so  insulting,  indeed,  as  those  offered  to  the  Dutch  in  Japan,  but 
sufficiently  so  to  establish  in  the  Celestial  mind  our  position  of 
inferiority,  of  which  we  have  never  yet  succeeded  in  disabusing  it. 

In  Japan,  fortunately,  we  have  not  as  yet  thus  committed  our¬ 
selves,  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  we  suffer  to  a  certain  ex¬ 
tent  from  the  low  moral  position  which  the  Dutch  took  up  at  the 
outset,  and  which  must  more  or  less  affect  all  foreigners.  As¬ 
suredly,  if  our  political  agents  in  Japan  inaugurate  our  intercourse 
with  that  court  by  crawling  about  on  their  hands  and  knees,  play¬ 
ing  the  drunkard  and  singing  love-songs,  we  shalbvery  soon  have 
a  Japanese  war  on  our  hands.  Happily,  in  our  consul  general  at 
Yedo  we  have  a  sagacious  and  experienced  man,  who  is  not  likely 
to  give  way  upon  points  of  national  dignity ;  but,  unless  our  di¬ 
plomacy  is  conducted  upon  principles  calculated  to  make  us  re¬ 
spected  as  a  nation  at  the  outset,  it  will  be  impossible  for  us,  in 
the  long  run,  to  maintain  satisfactory  relations  with  the  Japanese 
government.  It  is  no  doubt  true  that  the  influence  of  the  gov¬ 
ernments  both  of  China  and  Japan,  and,  indeed,  their  stability,  de¬ 
pend  in  a  great  measure  upon  the  prestige  which  attaches  to  them 
in  the  eyes  of  the  people  at  large ;  but  if  that  prestige  is  to  be  pur¬ 
chased  at  the  price  of  the  humiliation  of  Great  Britain  as  a  nation, 
we  had  better  leave  to  more  mercenary  countries  the  privilege  of 
trading  with  those  empires.  So  far  as  Japan  is  concerned,  there 
is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  application  of  force  will  be  nec¬ 
essary  to  inculcate  the  principal  lessons  of  reciprocal  international 
obligations.  With  so  quick-sighted  and  intelligent  a  people,  mor¬ 
al  influences  may  be  made  to  operate  more  effectually  than  phys¬ 
ical  force,  and  with  far  happier  results. 

But  if  it  is  so  essential  to  the  maintenance  of  an  amicable  inter¬ 
course  with  Japan  that  our  diplomatists  in  that  country  carry  out 
a  policy  of  combined  firmness  and  forbearance,  it  is  no  less  vital 


RESOURCES  OF  JAPAN. 


467 


to  the  success  of  commercial  enterprise,  in  this  new  and  compara¬ 
tively  unexplored  field,  that  our  merchants  set  an  example,  to  a 
people  totally  inexperienced  in  transactions  of  this  nature,  of  a 
rigid  adherence  to  treaty  obligations.  Where  these  are  sought  to 
be  evaded,  and  advantage  is  taken  of  the  ignorance  or  stupidity 
of  native  officials  to  infringe  even  in  the  smallest  degree  the  strict 
letter  of  the  law,  the  consequences  of  such  a  course  are  certain  to 
recoil  upon  the  mercantile  community  generally.  Sooner  or  later 
the  government  becomes  aware  of  the  abuse,  and  either  resents 
the  wrong  by  creating  out  of  it  a  cause  of  international  difficulty, 
or  perhaps,  unable  to  remedy  the  mischief,  recognizes  the  princi¬ 
ple,  and  thus  introduces  an  element  of  dishonesty  which  can  not 
fail  in  the  end  to  exercise  a  most  demoralizing  influence  upon  all 
persons  engaged  in  the  trade. 

There  are  so  many  most  tempting  occasions  for  stretching  the 
provisions  of  a  treaty  which,  in  the  case  of  a  country  like  Japan, 
must  necessarily  be  somewhat  vague,  that  it  is  by  the  spirit  rather 
than  by  the  letter  that  foreigners  should  be  guided.  By  observ¬ 
ing  this  principle  we  shall  the  more  rapidly  and  successfully  de¬ 
velop  the  resources  which  yet  lie  hidden  in  Japan. 

It  would  be  somewhat  rash  for  a  visitor  whose  experience  of  the 
country  has  been  limited  to  a  residence  of  a  fortnight  in  its  cap¬ 
ital  to  attempt  to  detail  with  any  certainty  what  those  resources 
are.  That  they  are  very  varied  we  know,  from  the  circumstance 
that  they  suffice  for  every  want  of  a  civilized  and  cultivated  peo¬ 
ple.  That  they  are  very  extensive  we  can  not  doubt,  because  be¬ 
tween  thirty  and  forty  millions  of  people  are  dependent  on  them 
alone.  How  far  they  are  yet  capable  of  expansion  we  shall  only 
learn  from  those  who  have  extended  opportunities  of  judging. 

We  may,  however,  venture  to  predict  that,  in  the  first  instance, 
the  great  preponderance  of  the  trade  of  Japan  will  be  with  China. 
Formerly  the  intercourse  between  these  two  countries  was  limited 
to  ten  Chinese  junks  a  year — Chapoo,  near  Shanghai,  being  the 
only  port  in  China  to  or  from  which  junks  were  permitted  to 
trade.  No  Japanese  junk  was  allowed  to  engage  in  this  trade, 
their  construction,  indeed,  involving  a  coasting  voyage ;  and  this 
construction  results  not  from  their  ignorance  of  a  better  model, 
but  from  the  stringent  regulations  forbidding  them  to  build  on  a 
principle  which  would  enable  them  to  enter  upon  distant  voy¬ 
ages.  The  cargoes  of  the  Chinese  junks  consisted  principally  of 


468 


GOVERNMENT  INTERFERENCE. 


sugar,  besides  spices,  dyes,  and  drugs  of  various  descriptions.  In 
return,  a  certain  quantity  of  bar  copper  was  allotted  to  each  junk, 
the  remainder  of  the  cargoes  consisting  of  lackered  ware,  dried 
fish,  wliale  oil,  etc. 

According  to  Thunberg,  the  crew  were  always  brought  on 
shore,  and  all  charge  of  the  vessel  taken  from  them  till  such  time 
as  every  thing  was  ready  for  their  departure ;  consequently,  the 
Japanese  unloaded  it  entirely,  and  afterward  brought  the  vessel 
on  shore,  where,  at  low  water,  it  was  quite  dry.  The  next  year 
it  was  loaded  with  other  goods.  They  were,  in  fact,  treated  with 
even  greater  indignity  than  the  Dutch,  while,  as  a  larger  percent¬ 
age  was  deducted  from  their  merchandise,  their  profits  were  even 
less. 

So  complete  has  been  the  control  which  the  government  has 
uniformly  exercised  over  all  commercial  transactions  in  which  its 
subjects  have  engaged,  that  we  shall  doubtless  find  considerable 
difficulty  in  emancipating  trade  from  its  undue  interference.  I 
have  already  remarked  that,  even  in  the  last  treaty  negotiated  by 
the  Dutch  in  1855,  the  old  machinery  of  the  Geld  Kammer  was 
preserved,  by  which  government  reserved  to  itself  the  control 
over  the  sale  of  every  cargo  arriving  at  Nagasaki.  With  a  gov¬ 
ernment  still  laboring  under  the  traditions  of  a  commercial  pol¬ 
icy,  the  essential  principle  of  which  is  a  minute  investigation  into 
every  act  of  the  trader,  and  an  immediate  supervision  of  his  every 
mercantile  transaction,  we  must  be  prepared  for  difficulties  in  our 
commercial  intercourse  at  every  turn.  A  Japanese  has  no  more 
idea  of  individual  freedom  than  a  child  of  three  years  old,  and  is 
about  as  learned  in  matters  of  trade.  He  has  always  been  in  the 
nursery,  and  is  contented  to  remain  there. 

His  paternal,  or  rather  maternal  government,  tells  him  the  price 
at  which  he  is  to  purchase  his  goods,  the  description  of  money  he 
is  to  pay  for  them  in,  and  what  he  is  to  sell  in  return.  When  the 
Englishman,  with  his  notions  of  personal  liberty  and  his  habits  of 
free  trade,  comes  into  business  contact  with  a  slave  instead  of  a 
free  man,  and  finds  himself  hampered  by  regulations  which  apply 
to  his  customer  in'  such  a  manner  as  to  act  most  injuriously  on 
himself,  it  requires  no  prophet  to  foretell  the  results.  We  shall 
have  a  considerable  and  very  natural  irritation  produced,  and  bit¬ 
ter  complaints  made  against  the  Japanese  government,  who  must 
learn  to  conform  to  the  usages  of  civilized  nations  in  this  respect, 


COMPETITION  WITH  NATIVE  MANUFACTURERS.  469 

and  be  taught  that,  beyond  a  certain  point,  no  isolated  commu¬ 
nity  has  a  right  to  dictate  to  the  rest  of  the  world  upon  a  matter 
in  which  mankind  are  universally  interested. 

The  appointment  of  a  Japanese  embassy  to  this  country  would 
do  more  than  any  thing  else  to  convey  this  necessary  and  whole¬ 
some  truth  to  the  minds  of  the  council  at  Yedo. 

The  trade  between  China  and  Japan,  to  which  I  have  already 
alluded,  and  of  which  foreign  ships  would  always  retain  the  mo¬ 
nopoly,  consists  principally  in  the  interchange  of  articles  of  diet  pe¬ 
culiar  to  those  countries.  Thus  one  of  the  most  expensive  lux¬ 
uries  in  China  is  the  root  called  ginseng ;  it  is  used  medicinally, 
or  by  the  rich  as  an  agreeable  tonic ;  but  the  price  at  which  it  is 
sold  in  the  bazars  in  China  is  something  fabulous.  Already  great 
quantities  of  ginseng  have  been  exported  from  J apan,  where  it 
grows  abundantly.  Dried  fish,  sharks’  fins,  and  sea-slugs  are  also 
enumerated  among  the  imports  into  China  from  Japan,  while  the 
Chinese  have  been  supplying  their  neighbors,  in  return,  with  pre¬ 
served  eggs,  birds’  nests,  and  various  spices  and  drugs  used  as 
medicines,  too  numerous  to  mention.  The  generic  name  for  a  car¬ 
go  composed  of  miscellanies  of  this  nature  is  chow-chow. 

As  Japan  does  not  produce  sugar,  when  the  taste  for  that  arti¬ 
cle  becomes  more  universal  there  will  probably  be  a  large  demand 
for  it.  The  most  convenient  source  of  supply  is  Formosa ;  but  the 
taste  for  sugar  is  only  one  among  numerous  wants  which  we  have 
yet  to  create  in  order  to  provide  ourselves  with  a  market  in  Japan. 
Hitherto  they  have  lived  in  blissful  ignorance  of  the  comfort  of  a 
cotton  pocket-handkerchief,  and  have  satisfied  themselves  with 
square  pieces  of  whity -brown  paper.  The  mysteries  of  long  ells 
and  Spanish  stripes  have  not  yet  been  made  known  to  them,  nor 
could  they  distinguish  between  broad-cloths  and  velveteens. 
Printed  cottons,  American  domestics,  drills,  and  all  varieties  of 
piece-goods,  have  been  supplied  hitherto  by  articles  of  native  man¬ 
ufacture.  It  will  be  for  the  manufacturer  of  this  country  to  sub¬ 
stitute  for  them  goods  which  can  answer  the  same  purpose,  of  a 
more  suitable  material  and  at  a  lower  figure. 

In  China  we  have  hitherto  failed  in  producing  that  great  rev¬ 
olution  in  the  fabric  of  which  the  dress  of  the  people  is  composed, 
which  was  predicted  on  the  conclusion  of  the  Pottinger  treaty. 
Chinese  cottons,  manufactured  by  the  hand,  still  compete  success¬ 
fully  with  the  productions  of  the  machinery  of  this  country,  al- 


470 


DEMAND  FOR  WOOLEN  MANUFACTURES,  ETC. 


though  it  is  fair  to  say  that  a  gradual  improvement  is  taking  place 
in  this  respect,  and  the  new  regulation  affecting  the  transit-dues 
will  materially  facilitate  the  introduction  of  foreign  produce  into 
the  country.  So  far  as  we  are  aware,  no  such  obstructions  to  the 
free  internal  traffic  of  the  country  exist  in  Japan.  When  once 
the  goods  are  disposed  of,  their  circulation  is  unrestricted.  Of 
course,  the  extent  of  that  circulation  will  depend  in  a  great  meas¬ 
ure  on  the  facilities  of  internal  communication  which  the  empire 
affords.  Its  volcanic  and  mountainous  character  renders  the 
transport  of  goods  by  land  expensive,  although  the  roads  are  oft¬ 
en  broad  enough  for  wheeled  vehicles ;  but  very  few  of  these  are 
used,  and  then  almost  exclusively  for  agricultural  purposes.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  great  extent  of  the  Japanese  sea-board,  and  the 
large  population  to  which  easy  access  may  thus  be  obtained,  will 
render  the  task  of  supplying  their  wants  comparatively  easy. 

There  is  one  material,  in  particular,  for  which  there  ought  cer¬ 
tainly  to  be  a  large  demand  in  Japan  when  its  merits  become 
known.  Old  William  Adams,  who  sailed  for  South  America  with 
a  cargo  of  woolens  three  hundred  years  ago,  thus  describes  the  re¬ 
sult  of  a  conference  held  on  board  the  Dutch  ship  Erasmus,  when 
they  had  failed  in  disposing  of  her  cargo :  “  At  last  it  was  resolved 
to  go  to  Japan,  for  by  report  of  one  Derrick  Geritson,  which  had 
been  there  with  the  Portugals,  woolen  cloth  was  in  great  estima¬ 
tion  in  that  island,  and  we  gathered  by  reason  that  the  Malaccas, 
and  most  part  of  the  East  Indies,  were  hot  countries,  where  wool¬ 
en  cloths  would  not  be  much  accepted ;  therefore  it  was  we  agreed 
to  go  for  Japan.” 

At  present  the  Japanese  wear  in  winter  garments  thickly  pad¬ 
ded  either  with  cotton  or  silk  wool.  In  the  latter  case  warm  cloth¬ 
ing  is  somewhat  expensive,  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  our 
woolen  fabrics  would  answer  the  purpose  better,  and  be  far  cheap¬ 
er.  In  China,  sheepskins  and  coarse  furs  are  used  by  the  lower 
orders,  but  I  did  not  observe  any  fur-shops  in  Yedo.  By  the 
treaty  both  cottons  and  woolens  are  admitted  into  Japan  at  a  duty 
of  five  per  cent.  The  remaining  articles  included  in  the  five  per 
cent,  list  are  all  articles  used  for  the  purpose  of  building,  rigging, 
repairing,  or  fitting  out  of  ships ;  whaling  gear  of  all  kinds ;  salted 
provisions  of  all  kinds ;  bread  and  bread-stuffs ;  living  animals  of 
all  kinds ;  coals,  timber  for  building  houses,  rice,  paddy,  steam- 
machinery,  zinc,  lead,  tin,  and  raw  silk.  A  duty  of  thirty -five  per 


VEGETABLE  PRODUCTS.— JAPAN  WAX. 


471 


cent,  is  placed  upon  all  intoxicating  liquors.  Gold  and  silver, 
coined  or  uncoined,  are  admitted  duty  free.  All  other  articles 
pay  a  duty  of  twenty  per  cent. 

The  exportation  of  rice  and  wheat,  gold  and  silver  coin,  and 
copper  in  bars,  is  prohibited.  The  Japanese  government,  how¬ 
ever,  engages  to  sell  from  time  to  time,  at  public  auction,  any  sur¬ 
plus  quantity  of  copper  that  may  be  produced.  This,  together 
with  all  other  articles  of  Japanese  production  which  are  exported 
as  cargo,  is  liable  to  a  duty  of  five  per  cent.  One  of  the  most  im¬ 
portant  clauses  in  these  regulations  is  the  right  reserved  of  revi¬ 
sion  of  the  tariff  at  the  end  of  five  years. 

Silk,  camphor,  vegetable  oil,  and  vegetable  wax  are  among  the 
principal  products  which  are  likely  to  be  exported  to  this  coun¬ 
try  ;  the  tea  and  tobacco  are  both  of  a  very  superior  quality ;  while, 
among  manufactured  articles,  lacker  and  china  in  small  quantities 
will  always  find  a  market  in  the  West.  Hitherto  the  most  suc¬ 
cessful  cargo  brought  to  this  country  from  Japan  has  been  one  of 
Japanese  wax.  Mr.  Simmonds,  in  the  China  Telegraph ,  gives  the 
following  account  of  Japan  wax:  “Rhus  succedanea,  the  species 
which  furnishes  the  Japan  wax,  has  long  been  grown  in  our 
green-houses,  having  been  introduced  from  China  nearly  a  cen¬ 
tury  ago. 

“  It  might  be  raised,  we  should  suppose,  in  the  Cape  and  Aus¬ 
tralian  colonies,  in  the  Mauritius  and  India,  and  would  be  far 
preferable  as  an  oleaginous  plant  to  the  species  of  candleberry 
myrtles  from  which  wax  is  obtained.  It  will  grow  in  any  com¬ 
mon  soil,  and  may  be  readily  increased  by  cuttings.  We  shall 
probably  soon  learn  what  is  the  ordinary  mode  of  culture  in  the 
plantations  of  Japan,  and  whether  any  attention  is  paid  to  prun¬ 
ing,  manuring,  etc.  The  wax  is  of  medium  quality,  between  bees¬ 
wax  and  the  ordinary  vegetable  tallows,  such  as  Bassia  buiter, 
Borneo  vegetable  tallows,  Cocum  butter,  etc.  Though  there  are 
shades  of  difference,  several  of  these  varieties  of  wax  possess  the 
essential  properties  of  that  formed  by  bees ;  indeed,  it  was  former¬ 
ly  supposed  that  bees  merely  collected  the  wax  already  formed 
by  the  vegetable,  but  Huber’s  experiments  show  that  the  insect 
has  the  power  of  transmuting  sugar  into  wax,  and  that  it  is,  in 
fact,  a  secretion.  Japan  wax  is  softer,  more  brittle  and  fatty  than 
beeswax,  easily  kneaded,  and  melts  between  40°  and  42°  C.  It 
contains  twice  as  much  oxygen  as  beeswax,  and  has  a  different 


472 


MINERAL  RESOURCES. 


composition,  consisting  of  palmitic  acid  united  with,  oxyde  of  gly- 
ceryle.  The  small  parcels  which  formerly  reached  this  country 
have  been  used  in  Price’s  Patent  Candleworks  in  substitution  for 
wax,  and  for  hard  neutral  fat,  and,  after  conversion  into  the  acid 
state,  both  for  candles  and  night-lights.  If  the  wholesale  price 
can  be  reduced,  this  wax  will  find  its  way  into  extensive  con¬ 
sumption  on  the  Continent  for  various  purposes.” 

The  seeds  of  another  tree,  called  the  Rhus  vernicefera,  also  con¬ 
tain  a  tallow-like  oil  which  is  used  in  the  making  of  candles. 

But,  so  far  as  our  present  limited  knowledge  of  the  resources 
of  Japan  will  enable  us  to  form  an  opinion,  its  mineral  are  more 
likely  to  form  a  profitable  source  of  commerce  than  its  vegetable 
productions.  At  present  there  is  every  probability  of  the  govern¬ 
ment  placing  obstacles  in  the  way  of  European  enterprise  in  this 
direction.  They  have  reserved  to  themselves  the  monopoly  of 
that  most  abundant  mineral  in  Japan,  copper,  which  is  used  for 
mechanical  and  other  purposes  there  almost  as  we  should  use  iron. 
Iron,  however,  also  abounds  in  various  parts  of  Japan,  and  the 
mines  appear  to  be  extensively  worked.  Judging  from  articles 
of  casting  of  their  own  construction,  the  ores  must  be  of  excellent 
quality.  Specimens  of  wrought  iron,  cast  and  blister  steel,  have 
been  examined  with  very  satisfactory  results.  The  wrought  iron 
is  usually  hammered,  and  in  small  flat  bars  varying  from  twelve 
to  twenty  lbs.  each.  This  is  probably  to  be  attributed  to  a  want 
of  proper  machinery  for  heavier  bars,  and  its  being  better  suited 
to  their  purposes. 

Coal,  as  well  as  copper,  is  a  government  monopoly.  Hitherto 
the  coal  brought  for  sale  since  the  opening  of  trade  has  been  sur¬ 
face  coal,  and  consequently  inferior  in  quality :  it  is  described  as 
small.  It  burns  slaty,  leaving  considerable  ash,  and  is  very  light. 
The  price  at  the  first  opening  of  trade  was  3-J-  Mexican  dollars  a 
ton,  but  it  has  probably  risen  since  then.  There  can  be  little 
doubt  that  good  coal  will  be  found  in  the  islands  when  the  mines 
begin  to  be  properly  worked,  but  whether  or  not  the  government 
will  permit  English  engineers  to  enter  the  country  to  assist  in 
developing  them  is  highly  problematical. 

However  much  we  may  regret  the  difficulties  which  oppose 
themselves  to  the  commercial  exploration  of  so  fertile  and  pro¬ 
ductive  a  country  as  Japan,  the  result  of  our  experience  leads  us 
to  believe  that  we  must  wait  for  many  years  before  trade  can  be 


COMMERCIAL  PROSPECTS.— LEAVE  JAPAN. 


473 


carried  on  with  it  upon  an  extensive  and  really  profitable  scale. 
Still  we  need  not  despair  of  a  prosperous  era  ultimately  arriving. 
We  have  already  succeeded  in  demolishing  that  external  rampart 
of  exclusiveness  which  had  successfully  resisted  the  assaults  of 
Western  nations  for  upward  of  two  centuries.  We  must  now 
apply  ourselves  steadily  to  undermine  the  inner  barriers  which 
have  been  constructed  during  that  period,  under  the  influence  of 
long-standing  prejudices  and  bitter  memories  of  the  past.  We 
shall  most  successfully  achieve  this  important  result  by  the  exer¬ 
cise  of  forbearance  and  integrity  on  the  part  of  our  merchants, 
and  by  the  maintenance  of  a  dignified  but  conciliatory  policy  on 
the  part  of  our  government. 

It  will  be  a  source  of  legitimate  pride  and  gratification  to  this 
country  if,  on  some  future  day,  a  Japanese,  looking  back  through 
the  history  of  the  empire,  can  point  to  the  pages  which  record  our 
first  intercourse  with  it  as  being  those  which  mark  the  dawn  of  a 
brighter  and  purer  civilization. 

«)»••••••»* 

When  the  day  broke  on  the  following  morning  we  were  no 
longer  visible  to  the  good  people  at  Yedo.  Early  in  the  after¬ 
noon  we  were  abreast  of  Simoda,  and  bade  adieu  to  our  invalua- 
able  interpreter  and  friend  Mr.  Hewsken,  consigning  him  the  less 
reluctantly  to  his  hermitage  on  shore  because  the  days  of  his  soli¬ 
tary  confinement  were  drawing  to  an  end,  and  intercourse  with 
China  would  henceforward  be  a  matter  of  common  occurrence. 

We  had  hoped,  on  our  return  voyage  to  Shanghai,  to  explore 
the  Suwonada  Sea  and  those  interesting  waters  which  lie  between 
the  islands  of  Kiu-siu,  Sikok,  and  Nipon,  and  which  have  not  as 
yet  been  traversed  by  foreign  keel,  and  which  must  afford  a  most 
interesting  field  for  surveys  of  a  scientific  character,  as  also  for 
general  observation.  The  Suwonada  Sea  is  thickly  covered  with 
islands,  and  was  reported  to  us  by  the  Japanese  as  navigable  for 
ships  of  large  draught.  The  large  and  important  island  of  Sikok 
intervenes  between  it  and  the  fSTorth  Pacific  Ocean,  with  which 
this  sea  is  connected  by  the  Straits  of  Bun  go  on  the  west,  and  the 
narrow  Channel  of  Kino  on  the  east.  Sikok  is,  as  its  name  im¬ 
plies,  divided  into  four  provinces ;  as,  however,  we  did  not  even 
sight  its  shores,  we  had  no  opportunity  of  obtaining  any  informa¬ 
tion  about  it.  It  is  about  150  miles  long,  with  an  average  breadth 
of  70  miles,  and  is  computed  to  contain  about  20,000  square  miles. 


474 


THE  PORT  OF  HIOGO.— OHOSAKA. 


With,  the  Suwonada  Sea,  however,  we  are  more  closely  inter¬ 
ested,  for  upon  its  margin  is  the  port  of  Hiogo,  opened  by  the 
treaty  to  the  commerce  of  the  West. 

This  port  is  situated  in  the  Bay  of  Ohosaka,  opposite  to  the 
celebrated  city  of  that  name,  from  which  it  is  ten  or  twelve  miles 
distant.  The  Japanese  government  have  expended  vast  sums  in 
their  engineering  efforts  to  improve  its  once  dangerous  anchorage. 
A  breakwater,  which  was  erected  at  a  prodigious  expense,  and 
which  cost  the  lives  of  numbers  of  workmen,  has  proved  suffi¬ 
cient  for  the  object  for  which  it  was  designed.  There  is  a  tradi¬ 
tion  that  a  superstition  existed  in  connection  with  this  dike,  to 
the  effect  that  it  would  never  be  finished  unless  an  individual 
could  be  found  sufficiently  patriotic  to  suffer  himself  to  be  buried 
in  it.  A  Japanese  Curtius  was  not  long  in  forthcoming,  to  whom 
a  debt  of  gratitude  will  be  due  in  all  time  to  come,  from  every 
British  ship  that  rides  securely  at  her  anchor  behind  the  break¬ 
water. 

Hiogo  has  now  become  the  port  of  Ohosaka  and  Miako,  and 
will,  in  all  probability,  be  the  principal  port  of  European  trade  in 
the  empire.  The  city  is  described  as  equal  in  size  to  Nagasaki. 
When  Ksempfer  visited  it,  he  found  three  hundred  junks  at  an¬ 
chor  in  its  bay. 

The  Butch  describe  Ohosaka  as  a  more  attractive  resort  than 
even  Yedo.  While  this  latter  city  may  be  regarded  as  the  Lon¬ 
don  of  Japan,  Ohosaka  seems  to  be  its  Paris.  Here  are  the  most 
celebrated  theatres,  the  most  sumptuous  tea-houses,  the  most  ex¬ 
tensive  pleasure-gardens.  It  is  the  abode  of  luxury  and  wealth, 
the  favorite  resort  of  fashionable  Japanese,  who  come  here  to 
spend  their  time  in  gayety  and  pleasure.  Ohosaka  is  one  of  the 
five  imperial  cities,  and  contains  a  vast  population.  It  is  situated 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  Jedogawa,  a  stream  which  rises  in  the 
Lake  of  Oity,  situated  a  day  and  a  half’s  journey  in  the  interior. 
It  is  navigable  for  boats  of  large  tonnage  as  far  as  Miako,  and  is 
spanned  by  numerous  handsome  bridges. 

The  port  of  Hiogo  and  city  of  Ohosaka  will  not  be  opened  to 
Europeans  until  the  1st  of  January,  1863.  The  foreign  residents 
will  then  be  allowed  to  explore  the  country  in  any  direction  for 
a  distance  of  twenty-five  miles,  except  toward  Miako,  or,  as  it  is 
more  properly  called,  Kioto.  They  will  not  be  allowed  to  ap¬ 
proach  nearer  than  twenty -five  miles  to  this  far-famed  city. 


KIOTO.— CAUGHT  IN  A  TYPHOON. 


475 


As  the  Dutch,  have  constantly  been  in  the  habit  of  passing 
through  Kioto,  it  is  probable  that  before  very  long  this  restriction 
will  be  removed,  and  Europeans  will  be  permitted  to  visit  what 
is,  without  question,  the  most  interesting  spot  in  the  empire.  If 
Yedo  is  the  London,  and  Ohosaka  the  Paris,  Kioto  is  certainly 
the  Rome  of  J apan.  It  is  here  that  the  spiritual  emperor  resides, 
and  that  enormous  ecclesiastical  court  by  which  he  is  surrounded, 
and  which  is  called  the  Dairi,  is  permanently  fixed.  It  is  here 
that  the  celebrated  tomb  of  the  great  Taiko-Sama,  the  most  fa¬ 
mous  of  Japanese  temporal  emperors,  is  situated ;  and  here  are  to 
be  seen  the  most  magnificent  and  imposing  temples  of  which  the 
empire  can  boast.  The  population  of  Kioto  is  said  to  be  half  a 
million,  and  it  has  had  the  reputation  of  being  the  principal  man¬ 
ufacturing  town  in  the  empire.  Had  we  then  known  how  little 
our  presence  was  needed  at  Shanghai,  we  might  have  been  the 
first  foreign  ship  to  visit  the  new  port  of  Iliogo.  Unfortunately, 
however,  the  period  fixed  upon  by  the  commissioners  for  their 
arrival  from  Pekin  was  already  passed,  and  Lord  Elgin  felt  bound 
to  push  on  with  all  speed  to  meet  them  at  the  appointed  rendez¬ 
vous.  We  afterward  found  that  any  anxiety  in  this  respect  was 
misplaced,  for,  with  true  Chinese  indifference,  they  had  postponed 
their  journey  for  many  weeks.  Meanwhile  we  were  plowing  the 
rough  seas  of  Japan  in  hot  haste,  a  gale  of  wind  astern  driving  us 
more  rapidly  than  we  cared  for  to  the  unloved  shores  of  China. 
Cape  Chichakoff,  our  old  enemy,  though  we  had  reason  to  be 
thankful  to  him  for  friendly  shelter,  looked  more  inhospitable 
than  ever  as  we  swept  past  him.  Heavy  storms,  strong  currents, 
and  numerous  rocks,  with  probably  many  more  undiscovered, 
combine  to  render  navigation  on  the  shores  of  J  apan  a  somewhat 
anxious  undertaking.  Fortunately,  we  had  passed  the  Straits  of 
Yan  Diemen  before  the  tail  of  a  typhoon  caught  us  suddenly,  car¬ 
rying  away  every  thing  that  was  set,  and  rendering  an  immediate 
reference  to  the  law  of  storms  necessary.  There  can  be  little 
doubt  that  the  application  of  this  law  saved  us  some  heavy  weath¬ 
er  ;  for,  instead  of  holding  on  our  course,  we  fairly  turned  tail, 
and  fled  from  the  circle  of  its  influence. 

Count  Poutiatine,  in  the  large  frigate  to  which  he  had  now 
transferred  his  flag,  was  less  fortunate.  She  suffered  so  severely 
in  the  same  storm  that  she  was  compelled  to  put  into  Nagasaki 
to  refit.  We  were  perfectly  contented  with  our  allowance,  never- 


476 


ARRIVAL  AT  SHANGHAI. 


theless,  and  spent  a  period  of  much  anxiety,  in  consequence  of  the 
risks  to  which  our  lacker  was  exposed.  Captain  Osborn  had  most 
good-naturedly  permitted  us  to  stow  it  away  on  the  main  deck, 
for  our  cabins  were  incapable  of  containing  a  fourth  part  of  our 
purchases;  but,  as  the  main  deck  was  often  ankle-deep  in  water, 
the  fate  of  our  Japanese  curiosities  caused  us  serious  misgivings. 

There  was,  moreover,  that  constant  struggle  between  a  desire 
for  air  and  light,  and  a  dread  of  shipping  seas,  so  familiar  to  those 
who  have  made  voyages  in  hot  latitudes.  Once  only  was  I  tempt¬ 
ed  to  trice  up  my  port,  and  had  hardly  done  so  before  I  paid 
dearly  for  my  indiscretion.  Five  thousand  cheroots,  a  small  Jap¬ 
anese  dog  that  was  accidentally  visiting  me,  all  my  boots,  and  a 
considerable  part  of  my  wardrobe,  were  swimming  together  in 
hopeless  confusion,  and  the  weather  continued  so  bad  that  two  or 
three  days  elapsed  before  I  could  dry  them.  The  dog  was  ever 
after  a  martyr  to  cramp  in  his  loins. 

In  spite  of  all  these  misadventures  we  made  the  passage  from 
Yedo  to  Shanghai  in  a  week,  and  had  the  satisfaction  of  announc¬ 
ing  to  our  friends  there,  whom  we  had  left  scarce  a  month  before, 
that  this  short  interval  had  sufficed  to  enable  Lord  Elgin  to  open 
a  new  market  to  the  British  merchant,  and  one  from  which  those 
residing  at  this  port  would  most  immediately  benefit. 


EFFECTS  OF  THE  CHINESE  CLIMATE. 


477 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

Effects  of  the  Chinese  Climate. — The  Amenities  of  Shanghai. — Arrival  of  the  Im¬ 
perial  Commissioners. — Correspondence  relative  to  Canton. — Peace  Proclamation. 
— Appointment  of  Sub-commission. — Our  Chinese  Colleagues. — Daily  Confer¬ 
ences. — Rate  of  the  new  Tariff. — Transit  Duties. — Collection  of  foreign  Customs. 
— The  Opium-trade. — Mr.  Reed’s  Dispatch  on  Opium. — Reply  of  Lord  Elgin. — 
Final  Adjustment  of  the  Question. — Visit  of  the  Commissioners. — The  jovial  Ho. 
— A  Dinner  with  the  Commissioners. — The  resident  Minister  at  Pekin. — Pro¬ 
posed  Expedition  up  the  Yang-tse-kiang. — Signing  the  Trade  Regulations. — De¬ 
parture  from  Shanghai. 

The  first  intelligence  which,  we  received  npon  our  return  to 
Shanghai  was  not  of  a  nature  calculated  to  console  us  for  our  hur¬ 
ried  flight  from  Japan.  It  appeared  that  the  departure  of  the 
imperial  commissioners  from  Pekin  had  been  postponed  for  some 
weeks,  an  interval  which  we  might  have  spent  with  pleasure  and 
profit  in  making  excursions  in  the  neighborhood  of  Yedo,  or  ex¬ 
ploring  the  Suwonada  Sea.  In  default  of  any  such  excitement, 
we  found  ourselves  thrown  upon  our  own  resources  at  Shanghai 
at  a  period  of  the  year  when  the  climate  seems  to  be  most  trying 
to  European  constitutions,  though  the  temperature  was  not  so  high 
as  it  had  been  six  weeks  previously. 

We  had  now  been  for  nearly  eighteen  months  knocking  about 
on  the  coast  of  China,  and  the  results  were  beginning  to  manifest 
themselves.  Mr.  Loch  went  home  on  sick  certificate,  taking  with 
him  the  Japanese  treaty.  Of  those  that  remained,  all  of  us  more 
or  less  suffered  from  the  effects  of  climate ;  and  the  hot  days, 
chilly  evenings,  and  malarious  exhalations  of  Shanghai  were  not 
calculated  to  remove  a  tendency  to  ague,  where  such  existed. 
Our  own  experience  enabled  us,  without  any  difficulty,  to  credit 
the  fact  which  is  established  by  the  official  returns,  that  the  China 
station  is  the  most  unhealthy  to  which  our  ships  are  sent,  the 
sickness  and  mortality  being  greater  here  than  even  on  the  west 
coast  of  Africa. 

Meantime  the  period  of  our  return  home  seemed  more  remote 
than  ever.  We  were  reminded  of  a  Japanese  fable  which  seemed 
not  altogether  inappropriate  to  our  condition.  A  moth  is  said 
to  exist  in  Japan  so  beautiful  that  all  the  night-flies  fall  in  love 


478 


THE  AMENITIES  OF  SHANGHAI. 


with  it.  To  get  rid  of  their  importunity,  she  sends  them  to  bring 
her  fire ;  and  her  rash  admirers,  in  their  ardent  attempts  to  do 
her  bidding,  are  consumed  in  a  flame,  fatal  alike  to  themselves 
and  their  aspirations.  Moral :  Beware  how  you  allow  yourself  to 
become  a  night-fly  in  the  service  of  your  country. 

As  Shanghai  is  situated  in  a  flat  and  highly-cultivated  country, 
intersected  by  canals  and  ditches,  and  traversed  by  narrow  foot¬ 
paths,  driving  is  impossible,  and  riding  attended  with  discomfort, 
if  not  actual  risk,  the  pleasure  of  crawling  at  a  foot-pace  in  Indian 
file  being  varied  only  by  the  excitement  of  crossing  a  single-log 
bridge.  The  enterprising  community  of  Shanghai,  to  compensate 
for  these  drawbacks,  have  constructed  a  race-course,  round  which 
equestrians  gyrate  daily,  as  though  they  were  being  lounged. 
Those  who  prefer  gossip  to  exercise  frequent  the  bund,  a  broad 
quay  which  extends  along  the  whole  length  of  the  settlement, 
and  which  is  crowded  with  Chinese  porters  all  the  morning,  and 
sprinkled  with  European  ladies  and  gentlemen  in  the  afternoon. 

Sportsmen  who  do  not  mind  foul  odors  may  plod  through  cot¬ 
ton-fields  all  day,  and  return  home  well  satisfied  with  their  luck 
if  they  bag  a  brace  of  pheasants  to  each  gun.  And  pedestrians 
have  been  known  to  sacrifice  their  noses  to  their  livers,  and  take 
long  walks  into  the  wearisome  country  for  the  good  of  their  health. 
Backets,  American  bowls,  and  billiards  afford  relaxation  to  a  large 
section  of  society ;  and  now  and  then  a  ball,  at  which  the  propor¬ 
tion  of  gentlemen  to  ladies  is  ten  to  one,  or  an  amateur  theatrical 
entertainment,  infuses  a  little  animation  into  the  world. 

As  the  utmost  harmony  and  hospitality  characterized  the  com¬ 
munity  during  our  stay  at  Shanghai,  we  found  it  infinitely  the 
most  agreeable  place  of  residence  in  China,  and  the  month  which 
elapsed  prior  to  the  arrival  of  the  commissioners  slipped  rapidly 
by.  We  occupied  the  handsome  residence  of  the  British  consul, 
and  experienced  some  relief,  after  our  long  confinement  on  ship¬ 
board,  in  the  comfort  of  its  spacious  apartments. 

On  the  8d  of  October  the  four  commissioners,  Kweiliang  and 
Hwashana,  Ming  and  Twan,  arrived  at  Shanghai.  As  Lord  Elgin 
had  been  disappointed  in  his  desire  to  see  the  Canton  braves  sum¬ 
marily  chastised,  it  became  incumbent  upon  him  to  accomplish  by 
moral  pressure  what  had  better  have  been  achieved  by  physical 
force ;  before,  therefore,  consenting  to  an  interview  with  the  com¬ 
missioners,  his  excellency  addressed  certain  inquiries  to  them 


PEACE  PROCLAMATION. 


479 


•with,  reference  to  the  conduct  of  Hwang,  the  successor  to  Yeh,  as 
governor  general  of  the  province  of  Kwang-tung,  and  to. the  ap¬ 
pointment  of  a  war  committee,  which  had  been  instrumental  in 
raising  braves  for  the  purpose  of  harassing  our  garrison  in  Can¬ 
ton.  Until  a  satisfactory  reply  was  made  to  these  inquiries,  his 
excellency  declined  to  enter  upon  any  business  with  the  imperial 
commissioners. 

The  committee  for  the  organization  of  militia,  or  braves,  was 
principally  under  the  direction  of  these  political  adventurers,  well 
known  for  their  turbulent  character,  and  who  were  now  seeking 
to  win  promotion  by  making  themselves  prominent  as  the  lead¬ 
ers  of  that  patriotic  party  who  had  sworn  to  devote  themselves 
to  the  extermination  of  the  barbarians.  The  names  of  these  men 
were  Lung,  Lo,  and  Su. 

We  had  good  reason  to  suppose,  and  we  were  afterward  con¬ 
firmed  in  the  belief,  that  these  men  were  acting  in  accordance 
with  secret  instructions  from  Pekin,  directly  opposed  to  protesta¬ 
tions  of  amity  which  the  commissioners  were  at  this  moment 
making  in  behalf  of  the  emperor. 

With  reference  to  the  subjects  referred  to  in  Lord  Elgin’s  dis¬ 
patch,  the  imperial  commissioners  stated  that  the  news  of  the 
treaty  had  not  yet  reached  Canton,  nor  the  treaty  itself  been  offi¬ 
cially  promulgated ;  that  Hwang  had  therefore  not  changed  his 
policy ;  and  that,  as  to  the  “  high  officers,  Lung,  Lo,  and  Su,  they 
are  gentlemen  and  literates,  who  have  had  the  honor  to  receive 
the  emperor’s  commands  to  superintend  the  organization  of  the 
militia.  This  is  so  in  every  province ;  it  is  not  in  Kwang-tung 
alone.  Wherever  the  country  is  unsettled,  it  is  the  business  of 
the  gentry  who  superintend  the  organization  of  the  militia  to  be 
the  first  informed.” 

They  proposed,  however,  to  order  Hwang  to  issue  the  following 
proclamation,  and  to  publish  it  extensively  themselves : 

u  Draft  Proclamation. 

u  The  commissioners  hereby  give  notice  that  a  treaty  of  peace 
to  endure  forever,  between  China  and  England,  France,  and  Amer¬ 
ica,  has  been  concluded  by  them  at  Tientsin ;  and  as  they  are  in¬ 
deed  apprehensive  that  the  same  may  not  be  generally  known  to 
the  gentry,  merchants,  and  population  at  large  of  the  different 
ports,  they  deem  it  right  to  issue  a  proclamation  to  that  effect. 


480 


APPOINTMENT  OF  SUB-COMMISSION. 


“They  accordingly  proclaim  to  tlie  merchants,  and  all  other 
persons  of  the  different  ports,  that  a  good  understanding  is  ever¬ 
more  to  endure  and  increase  between  the  Chinese  and  the  for¬ 
eigners  of  all  nations,  and  that  they  are  together  to  share  the  en¬ 
joyment  of  comfort  and  advantage.  Such  is  the  earnest  hope  of 
the  commissioners.  Let  none  disobey. 

“Attend ! 

“Attend ! 

“A  special  proclamation.” 

So  far  from  accepting  this  communication  as  a  satisfactory  an¬ 
swer  to  his  demands,  Lord  Elgin  announced  to  the  commissioners 
in  reply  that,  “  after  all  that  has  happened,  he  can  not  accept  any 
measure  short  of  the  removal  of  the  governor  general,  and  the 
withdrawal  of  the  special  powers  with  which  the  gentry  are  in¬ 
vested,  as  proof  of  the  sincerity  of  the  imperial  government  in  its 
desire  for  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  peaceful  relations 
between  the  two  countries.” 

In  reply,  the  commissioners  promised  to  obtain  the  removal  of 
Hwang,  and  the  withdrawal  of  their  powers  from  the  War  Com¬ 
mittee. 

This  matter  being  so  far  satisfactorily  arranged,  the  commis¬ 
sioners  express  their  readiness  to  enter  upon  the  consideration  of 
the  revision  of  the  tariff  and  the  settlement  of  trade  regulations, 
this  being  the  ostensible  object  of  their  journey  from  Pekin.  In 
the  mean  time,  the  Governor  General  of  the  Two  Kiangs,  Ho- 
kwei-tsick,  joins  them  as  imperial  commissioners,  and  is  reputed 
to  bring  to  their  councils  the  most  subtle  intellect  as  well  as  the 
most  liberal  mind.  The  population  over  which  his  supreme  ad¬ 
ministrative  functions  extend  is  about  equal  to  that  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland. 

In  order  to  discuss  the  details  of  the  tariff  and  trade  regula¬ 
tions,  a  commission  was  appointed,  consisting,  on  the  part  of  the 
Chinese  government,  of  Wang,  the  provincial  treasurer,  and  Sieh, 
the  provincial  judge;  and  on  the  part  of  the  English,  of  Mr. 
Wade  and  myself.  It  was  arranged  that  Mr.  Lay  should  also  be 
present,  though  not  as  one  of  the  commission.  In  his  dispatch 
to  the  commissioners  upon  the  subject,  Lord  Elgin  states  “  that 
the  peculiar  nature  of  Mr.  Lay’s  relation  to  the  Chinese  authori¬ 
ties  has  alone  prevented  the  undersigned  from  officially  attaching 


OUR  CHINESE  COLLEAGUES. 


481 


that  gentleman  to  the  commission  above  nominated.  As,  howev¬ 
er,  it  is  most  important  that,  in  a  matter  involving  such  grave  in¬ 
terests  on  both  sides,  neither  party  should  be  deprived  of  the  ex¬ 
perience  and  information  which  Mr.  Lay  can  bring  to  bear  upon 
the  subject,  it  is  his  wish  that  that  gentleman  should  be  present 
at  the  meetings  of  the  commission.” 

These  meetings  took  place  at  a  building  called  the  Ye-shi  Yuen, 
situated  at  the  farther  extremity  of  the  city,  nearly  four  miles  dis¬ 
tant  from  the  consulate:  the  daily  journey  thither  in  chairs, 
through  the  narrow,  reeking  streets  of  Shanghai,  was  certainly,  if 
not  the  most  arduous,  the  least  pleasant  part  of  our  duties.  Our 
Chinese  colleagues  were  both  agreeable,  intelligent  men.  The 
treasurer,  Wang,  though  superior  in  rank  to  the  judge,  took  lit¬ 
tle  part  in  the  discussions.  His  experience  of  barbarians  had 
been  limited,  and  his  principal  recommendation  lay  in  his  gentle, 


Sieh,  late  Taoutai  of  Shanghai. 


conciliatory  manner,  and  the  absence  of  any  marked  antipathy 
toward  foreigners.  It  was  in  Sieh  that  the  imperial  commission¬ 
ers  reposed  all  their  confidence.  For  many  years  taoutai  or  in- 

Hh 


482 


RATE  OF  THE  NEW  TARIFF. 


tendant  at  Shanghai,  there  is  certainly  no  Chinese  mandarin  in 
the  empire  whose  intercourse  with  foreigners  has  been  so  extens¬ 
ive,  or  whose  views  upon  foreign  policy  are  so  enlightened. 
There  can  be  little  doubt  that,  had  the  advice  of  Sieh  been  attend¬ 
ed  to,  the  Chinese  government  would  not  recently  have  commit¬ 
ted  an  act  which  now  calls  for  a  heavy  retribution. 

At  that  time  his  opinion  carried  great  weight  in  the  councils  of 
the  imperial  commissioners,  while  he  was  to  a  large  extent  influ¬ 
enced  by  his  colleague  in  the  service  of  the  Chinese  government, 
Mr.  Lay.  As  our  approach  was  always  signified  by  a  runner  in 
advance,  we  invariably  found  these  high  functionaries  standing  at 
the  door,  waiting  to  receive  us  with  a  profusion  of  ctsin-ctsins. 
Then  we  ascended  to  a  cool  upper  chamber,  commanding  an  ex¬ 
tensive  view  of  upturned  house-tops,  and  here,  with  due  solemni¬ 
ty,  assisted  by  a  consumption  of  tobacco  which  would  have  quick¬ 
ened  the  intellect  of  a  W outer  Van  T wilier,  and  refreshed  by  co¬ 
pious  relays  of  almond  and  ordinary  tea,  we  transacted  the  busi¬ 
ness  of  the  day.  When  it  was  over,  we  were  regularly  pressed  to 
partake  of  a  repast  which  was  laid  out  for  us  in  a  lower  room. 
This  part  of  the  ceremony  we  usually  found  a  pretext  for  escap¬ 
ing.  It  would  have  been  a  breach  of  politeness,  however,  to  have 
invariably  declined  to  be  thus  entertained  after  our  labors,  though 
it  involved  the  consumption  of  much  grease  and  many  unknown 
viands,  and  usually  terminated  in  a  drinking-match  of  hot  sam- 
shu  with  the  judge,  he  being  naturally  of  a  jovial  temperament, 
and  averse  to  heel-taps. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  here  to  do  more  than  state  briefly  the 
result  of  our  labors,  and  the  arrangements  we  finally  came  to  with 
reference  to  trade  regulations  and  tariff,  more  particularly  as  the 
details  are  given  at  some  length  in  the  Blue-Book ;  there  are, 
however,  some  points  which  merit  a  brief  notice. 

The  general  principle  upon  which  the  tariff  was  based,  in  ac¬ 
cordance  wTith  the  treaty,  was  the  imposition  of  specific  duties  of 
import  and  export,  calculated  on  an  ad  valorem  rate  of  five  per 
cent.  In  the  case  of  imports,  this  principle  was  adhered  to  very 
strictly ;  in  exports,  however,  it  was  necessary  to  apply  it  with 
some  reserve,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  case  of  silk,  in  which  the 
Trench  had  a  special  interest,  and  where  the  duty  already  levied 
was  lower  than  the  five  per  cent.  rate.  In  consideration  of  this  ad¬ 
vantage,  certain  reasonable  concessions  were  made  in  other  duties. 


TRANSIT-DUTIES. 


483 


Oar  discussions,  however,  were  not  limited  to  a  consideration 
of  the  export  and  import  trade  of  China  alone ;  the  coasting  trade 
claimed  a  due  share  of  our  attention,  and  various  restrictions  which 
had  hitherto  operated  most  prejudicially  upon  foreigners  trading 
between  different  ports  in  the  empire  were  removed.  As,  how¬ 
ever,  the  native  junk  traffic  was  likely  to  be  seriously  affected  by 
the  new  regulations  upon  this  head,  it  did  not  seem  fair  to  refuse 
every  concession  in  its  favor ;  and,  in  consequence  of  the  urgent 
representation  of  the  judge  Sieh,  the  export  of  pulse  and  bean- 
cake  from  the  new  ports  of  Teng-chow  and  New  Chwang,  under 
the  British  flag,  was  prohibited.  This  trade  is  chiefly  carried  on 
with  Shanghai,  some  thousands  of  the  sailors  engaged  in  it  belong¬ 
ing  to  that  city.  An  act  which  should  deprive  these  men  of  the 
means  of  earning  their  livelihood  the  Chinese  commissioners  fear¬ 
ed  would  in  all  probability  create  serious  riots  and  local  disturb¬ 
ances. 

More  difficult  of  arrangement  were  the  details  involved  in  that 
article  of  the  treaty  which  provides  for  the  commutation  of  the 
transit-dues,  and  the  scope  and  object  of  which  I  have  already  de¬ 
scribed.  It  was  finally  arranged  that  this  commutation  should  be 
limited  to  a  sum  not  exceeding  one  half  of  the  tariff-duties,  except 
in  the  case  of  the  duty-free  goods,  which  should  be  liable  to  a 
transit-duty  of  2J  per  cent,  ad  valorem.  The  importance  of  this 
regulation,  as  affecting  certain  articles,  and  more  especially  tea, 
may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  a  transit-duty,  at  the  rate  of 
nearly  100  per  cent.,  has  in  some  cases  been  said  to  have  been 
levied  on  this  commodity.  “  If  I  am  not  misinformed,”  says  Mr. 
Reed,*  in  a  letter  to  Lord  Elgin  on  the  subject,  “the  transit-du¬ 
ties  on  tea  alone  often  amount  to  quite  as  much  as  the  article  it¬ 
self,  and  the  hope  is  reasonable  that  the  new  treaty  will  very 
much  reduce  them.”  The  present  export  duty  on  tea  in  China  is 
about  one  tenth  of  that  which  we  levy  on  its  import  into  this  coun¬ 
try,  and  its  transit-due  is  now  reduced  to  half  the  former  amount. 

Involved  in  the  consideration  of  this  most  important  clause  af¬ 
fecting  the  transit-dues  was  also  the  regulation  of  the  conditions 
under  which  certificates  should  be  issued,  both  in  the  case  of  ex¬ 
ports  and  imports.  These  details  were  often  complicated  and  dif¬ 
ficult  ;  the  more  so,  as  we  had  no  experience  or  precedent  to  guide 
us  in  framing  them. 


*  Blue-Book ,  p.  393. 


484 


COLLECTION  OF  FOREIGN  CUSTOMS. 


But  perhaps  the  most  important  rule  in  the  trade  regulations  is 
that  which  provides  for  the  collection  of  duties  under  one  system 
at  all  the  ports,  and  in  which  it  is  stipulated  that  the  high  officer 
appointed  by  the  Chinese  government  to  superintend  foreign  trade 
shall  be  at  liberty,  of  his  own  choice,  and  independently  of  the 
suggestion  or  nomination  of  any  British  authority,  to  select  any 
British  subject  he  may  see  fit  to  aid  him  in  the  administration  of 
the  Customs  revenue.  In  pursuance  of  the  plan  thus  adopted  by 
the  Chinese  government,  they  have  applied  through  Mr.  Lay  for 
Englishmen  to  assist  him  in  the  important  department  over  which 
he  presides,  and  twelve  gentlemen  have  already  left  this  country 
for  China  to  supply  the  place  of  Chinese  employes  in  the  collec¬ 
tion  of  the  foreign  customs.  Although  the  recent  rupture  has 
prevented  this  system  from  coming  into  operation,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  it  will  be  the  one  ultimately  adopted. 

It  will  readily  be  conceived  that  the  imperial  government  would 
not  have  consented  thus  to  substitute  foreigners  for  its  own  sub¬ 
jects,  had  not  a  painful  experience  taught  it  that  it  would  be  im¬ 
possible,  under  any  other  system,  to  check  those  malpractices  by 
which  the  revenue  was  so  extensively  defrauded.  Unfortunately, 
the  corruption  was  not  confined  to  Chinese  officials  alone.  For¬ 
eign  merchants  were  too  often  induced  to  take  advantage  of  the 
ready  unscrupulousness  of  the  Custom-house  officers,  and  a  system 
was  in  vogue  which,  if  persisted  in,  would  have  exercised  a  most 
demoralizing  influence  generally.  Doubtless  the  illegal  traffic  in 
opium,  so  extensively  carried  on  as  a  notoriously  contraband 
trade,  largely  contributed  to  produce  the  same  effect ;  and  so 
keenly  alive  was  Lord  Elgin  to  the  serious  nature  of  the  evils 
produced  by  the  trade  in  opium,  as  carried  out,  that  he  determ¬ 
ined  not  to  shrink  from  applying  the  only  remedy  which  appear¬ 
ed  to  him  practicable.  The  views  by  which  he  was  actuated  in 
dealing  with  this  question  are  fully  set  forth  in  a  correspondence 
which  passed  between  him  and  Mr.  Reed,  the  American  minister, 
who  came  out  to  China  with  a  strong  bias  against  the  opium 
trade,  and  with  instructions  from  his  government  conceived  in 
the  same  spirit,  but  who  nevertheless  became  an  advocate  of  the 
legalization  of  the  trade  from  witnessing  the  abuses  to  which  its 
contraband  character  gave  rise. 

In  that  correspondence,  referring  to  the  disinclination  which 
Lord  Elgin  had  evinced  to  press  the  matter  when  at  Tientsin, 


THE  OPIUM  TRADE.— MR.  REED’S  DISPATCH. 


485 


Mr.  Reed  observes:  aI  have  more  than  once  understood  your  « 
excellency  to  say  that  you  had  a  strong,  if  not  invincible  repug¬ 
nance,  involved  as  Great  Britain  already  was  in  hostilities  at  Can¬ 
ton,  and  having  been  compelled  in  the  north  to  resort  to  the  in¬ 
fluence  of  threatened  coercion,  to  introduce  the  subject  of  opium 
to  the  consideration  of  the  Chinese  authorities.  Yet  I  am  confi¬ 
dent,  unless  the  initiative  is  taken  by  your  excellency,  things 
must  continue  as  they  are,  with  all  their  shame ;  and  I  appeal  to 
your  excellency’s  high  sense  of  duty,  so  often  and  so  strongly  ex¬ 
pressed  to  this  helpless  though  perverse  people,  whether  we,  the 
representatives  of  Western  and  Christian  nations,  ought  to  con¬ 
sider  our  work  done  without  some  attempt  to  induce  or  compel 
an  adjustment  of  the  pernicious  difficulty.  In  such  an  attempt  I 
shall  cordially  unite.”  After  alluding  to  the  possibility  of  putting 
a  stop  to  the  growth  of  opium  in  India,  Mr.  Reed  goes  on  to  say : 

“  Of  effective  prohibition,  and  this  mainly  through  the  inveterate 
appetite  of  the  Chinese,  I  am  not  sanguine ;  and  I  therefore  more 
confidently,  though  not  more '  earnestly,  call  your  excellency’s 
attention  to  the  only  other  course  open  to  us — attempt  to  per¬ 
suade  the  Chinese  to  put  such  high  duties  on  the  drug  as  will 
restrain  the  supply,  regulate  the  import,  and  yet  not  stimulate 
some  other  form  of  smuggling,  with  or  without  the  connivance  of 
the  Chinese.  The  economical  arguments  in  favor  of  this  course 
are  so  fully  stated  in  the  accompanying  paper  that  I  need  not 
allude  to  them  farther.” 

In  his  reply  to  this  communication  Lord  Elgin  states:  “I  so 
cordially  assent  to  the  views  expressed  by  your  excellency  in 
reference  to  the  opium  trade,  that  I  do  not  think  it  necessary  to 
dwell  on  this  part  of  your  letter.  I  would  only  venture  to  ob¬ 
serve,  on  this  head,  that  when  I  resolved  not  to  press  this  matter 
upon  the  attention  of  the  Chinese  commissioners  at  Tientsin,  I  did 
so,  not  because  I  questioned  the  advantages  which  would  accrue 
from  the  legalization  of  the  traffic,  but  because  I  could  not  recon¬ 
cile  it  to  my  sense  of  right  ‘to  urge  the  imperial  government  to 
abandon  its  traditional  policy  in  this  respect,  under  the  kind  of 
pressure  which  we  were  bringing  to  bear  upon  it  at  Tientsin. 

“  The  circumstances  under  which  this  question  will  come  up 
for  discussion  in  the  conferences  on  the  subject  of  the  tariff,  which 
are  now  being  held  at  this  place,  are  happily  different,  and  I  shall 
not  fail  to  instruct  the  gentlemen  who  are  acting  for  me  on  this 


486 


FINAL  ADJUSTMENT  OF  THE  QUESTION. 


occasion  to  call  the  attention  of  the  officers  of  the  Chinese  govern¬ 
ment,  with  whom  they  are  negotiating,  to  the  considerations  so 
ably  stated  in  your  letter.  I  have  little  doubt  but  that  it  will  be 
found  that  legalization  is  the  only  available  remedy  for  the  evils 
which  have  attracted  your  excellency’s  notice,  because  I  am  con¬ 
fident  that,  even  if  the  other  difficulties  to  which  you  advert  could 
be  removed,  it  would  be  found  practically  impossible  to  suppress 
the  traffic  in  an  article  so  easily  raised  and  transported,  and  the 
demand  for  which  in  this  country  is  so  great  that  when  the  sup¬ 
ply,  from  some  cause  or  another,  has  fallen  short,  the  price  has,  I 
am  informed,  even  within  the  last  few  years,  risen  occasionally  to 
upward  of  one  thousand  dollars  per  chest — a  sum  exceeding,  I 
should  presume,  five  times  the  cost  of  production.” 

In  pursuance  of  this  view,  it  was  represented  to  the  commission¬ 
ers  that  many  abuses  connected  with  the  traffic  in  opium  would 
be  obviated  if  the  drug,  which  was  already  practically  legalized 
by  the  surreptitious  levy  of  a  duty  upon  it  by  the  officers  of  the 
government,  was  placed  upon  the  footing  of  other  imports.  The 
commissioners  concurred  in  this  opinion,  and  opium  was  inserted 
in  the  tariff  as  liable  to  a  duty  of  thirty  taels  per  chest.  A  marked 
distinction  was,  however,  established  between  this  article  and  oth¬ 
er  imports.  I  have  already  explained  that,  by  the  new  regula¬ 
tion,  foreigners  were  empowered  to  convey  their  goods  into  the 
interior  of  the  country,  and  that  the  goods  so  conveyed  were  liable 
to  a  duty  not  exceeding  2-J-  per  cent,  ad  valorem.  From  these 
advantages  the  trade  in  opium  was  expressly  excluded.  The 
Chinese  commissioners  observed  that  abuses  and  collisions  with 
the  authorities  might  arise  if  foreigners  were  permitted  to  carry 
this  drug  into  the  country,  and  force  it  into  the  markets  of  the 
interior.  Lord  Elgin  concurred  in  this  opinion ;  and,  farther, 
deeming  an  article  of  this  description  a  very  proper  subject  for 
taxation,  he  agreed  that  the  stipulation  respecting  transit-duties, 
to  which  I  have  referred,  should  not  apply  to  it.  Hone  of  the 
new  privileges,  therefore,  acquired  under  Lord  Elgin’s  treaty,  were 
extended  to  opium.  It  remained  on  the  footing  on  which  general 
imports  stood  under  the  provisions  of  the  Treaty  of  Nankin. 
Foreigners  could  enter  it  at  the  open  ports  upon  payment  of  a 
duty  of  thirty  taels  a  chest,  but  it  was  then  to  pass  into  Chinese 
hands,  and  to  become  subject  to  such  charges  as  the  Chinese 
government  might  see  fit  to  impose  upon  it. 


VISIT  OF  THE  COMMISSIONERS. 


487 


As  affairs  were  now  in  an  amicable  train,  it  was  arranged  that 
the  imperial  commissioners  should  pay  a  grand  visit  of  ceremony 
to  Lord  Elgin,  and,  accordingly,  on  the  16th  of  October  a  large 
portion  of  the  Shanghai  community  repaired  to  the  Bund  to  wit¬ 
ness  the  long  uncouth  procession,  which  extended  almost  from 
one  end  of  it  to  the  other,  and  consisted  of  a  most  miscellaneous 
collection  of  spearmen  and  banner-men,  mounted  attendants,  and 
footmen  with  tall  conical  red  caps,  many  of  them  extremely  rag¬ 
ged  as  to  costume,  regard  being  apparently  had  rather  to  the 
quantity  than  the  quality  of  the  escort.  A  great  deal  of  shouting 
and  discordant  music  heralded  the  approach  of  this  tattered  cortege. 
In  the  midst  of  it  were  the  five  commissioners  in  state  chairs,  pre¬ 
ceded  and  followed  by  lesser  dignitaries  in  humble  chairs. 

An  interval  of  nearly  four  months  had  elapsed  since  we  had 
parted  with  the  two  senior  commissioners,  Kweiliang  and  Hwa- 
shana,  at  Tientsin,  so  that  when  Lord  Elgin  received  them  at  the 
front  door,  a  cordial  greeting,  as  between  old  friends,  took  place. 

Although  they  had  never  before  seen  a  European  house,  they 
manifested  an  orthodox  Chinese  indifference  at  the  novel  arrange¬ 
ments  which  now,  for  the  first  time,  were  presented  to  their  view, 
and,  being  seated  in  proper  order,  the  whole  party  were  soon 
overwhelming  each  other  with  the  compliments  appropriate  to 
the  occasion. 

We  did  indeed  remark  a  much  greater  ease  and  affability  on 
the  part  of  our  guests  than  had  characterized  their  demeanor  at 
Tientsin;  they  were  evidently  actuated  by  a  strong  desire  to 
soothe  to  the  uttermost  “  our  uncontrollable  fierceness,”  and  took 
a  great  apparent  interest  in  Lord  Elgin’s  description  of  the  Trans¬ 
atlantic  Telegraph,  the  news  of  the  success  of  which  had  just 
reached  us.  The  most  vivacious  of  the  party  was  the  Governor 
General  IIo :  so  excited  did  he  become  upon  a  glass  of  Cura§oa 
at  luncheon,  that  with  a  flushed  face  he  began  an  energetic  recital 
of  his  functions  at  Pekin,  as  the  emperor’s  amanuensis,  entering 
at  last  into  such  particulars  concerning  that  high  personage,  and 
the  etiquette  of  his  court,  that  his  colleagues  became  alarmed  at 
his  garrulous  propensities,  and  my  strong-headed  friend  the  judge 
unceremoniously  possessed  himself  of  the  next  glass  which  the 
jovial  Ho  was  about  to  imbibe,  and  tossed  it  down  his  own  throat, 
with  an  apologetic  remark,  tapping  his  forehead,  that  Ho  was 
weak  in  this  respect,  a  statement  confirmed  by  Ho  himself,  who 


488 


A  DINNER  WITH  THE  COMMISSIONERS. 


naively  informed  us  that  his  face  was  red  in  consequence  of  the 
wine  having  got  into  his  head. 

The  judge  afterward  told  me  that  in  all  other  respects  but  that 
of  drink  Ho’s  head  was  strong.  At  the  age  of  twenty -four  he  had 
taken  the  highest  scholastic  honors  in  the  empire.  His  literary 
labors  were  as  extensive  as  his  imagination  was  brilliant.  He 
was  regarded  as  one  of  the  finest  of  Chinese  poets,  and  so  skillful 
in  transcribing  his  thoughts  that,  before  his  eyesight  had  become 
dimmed  from  work,  he  could  write  a  whole  poem  on  a  melon 
seed.  At  this  particular  juncture  Ho  was  divided  between  a  de¬ 
sire  to  conciliate  us  and  chastise  the  rebels.  He  evidently  con¬ 
sidered  intoxicating  himself  at  a  barbarian  meal  a  master-stroke 
of  policy.  In  a  few  days  he  was  to  repair  to  the  camp  of  the  im¬ 
perialist  forces  and  attack  the  rebels,  who  were  committing  some 
depredations  in  the  neighborhood  of  Nankin.  When  Lord  Elgin 
informed  the  party  that  he  wished  to  retain  a  more  lasting  im¬ 
pression  of  individuals  for  whom  he  had  so  high  a  regard  than 
his  memory  could  furnish,  and  explained  to  them  that  Mr.  Joce¬ 
lyn  was  prepared  to  take  their  photographs,  they  expressed  great 
gratification,  and  readily  took  up  the  required  positions,  and  went 
through  the  necessary  rigidity  of  countenance — a  simple  operation 
to  a  Chinaman,  who  considers  it  at  all  times  undignified  to  allow 
any  expression  to  appear  on  his  face. 

On  the  18th  Lord  Elgin  returned  the  visit  of  the  imperial  com¬ 
missioners  with  a  procession  of  twelve  chairs,  accompanied  by  a 
guard  of  a  hundred  marines,  and  preceded  by  the  band  of  the 
Retribution. 

An  elaborate  repast  was  provided  for  our  entertainment  upon 
this  occasion,  comprising  a  more  than  usual  array  of  Chinese  cu¬ 
linary  delicacies.  The  communicative  Ho  plied  Lord  Elgin  with 
questions  about  the  government  and  constitution  of  England,  and 
showed  a  greater  amount  of  intelligence  and  interest  in  the  subject 
than  I  had  ever  before  remarked  in  a  Chinaman;  even  Hwashana, 
the  uncompromising,  unbent  so  far  as  occasionally  to  enjoy  a  joke; 
while  Kweiliang,  always  anxious  to  be  amiable,  constructed  pyr¬ 
amids  of  edibles  upon  the  plates  of  his  neighbors ;  altogether,  our 
friends  seemed  gradually  to  be  attaining  a  better  frame  of  mind, 
and  expressed  themselves  well  pleased  with  the  harmony  which 
characterized  our  diplomatic  intercourse,  and  full  of  anxiety  for 
its  continuance.  There  was,  however,  still  one  point  in  reserve, 


THE  RESIDENT  MINISTER  AT  PEKIN. 


489 


to  which  the  commissioners  had  not  yet  alluded,  but  the  import¬ 
ance  of  which  was  so  great  in  the  eyes  of  the  imperial  government 
that  it  had  led  to  their  special  mission  to  Shanghai.  Like  the 
postscript  in  a  lady’s  letter,  however,  it  had  been  kept  till  the  last, 
but  the  time  had  now  come  when  the  dreaded  subject  was  to  be 
broached,  and  the  effect  which  their  amiability  had  produced  upon 
the  mind  of  the  British  plenipotentiary  was  to  be  tested. 

As  this  point  was  none  other  than  that  involved  in  the  third 
article  of  the  Treaty  of  Tientsin — according  to  Great  Britain  the 
right  of  a  resident  minister  at  Pekin — and  as  the  correspondence 
which  ensued  in  consequence  is  especially  interesting  at  the  pres¬ 
ent  juncture,  I  have  given  it  along  with  the  treaty,*  in  order  that 
the  reader  may  learn  the  grounds  of  objection  of  the  Chinese  to 
the  enforcement  of  this  treaty-right,  and  the  view  which  Lord 
Elgin  took  in  consequence. 

The  result  of  this  correspondence  was,  that  although  the  treaty- 
right  was  not  waived,  Lord  Elgin  promised  to  submit  it  as  his 
opinion  “that,  if  her  majesty’s  embassador  be  properly  received 
at  Pekin  when  the  ratifications  are  exchanged  next  year,  and  full 
effect  given  in  all  other  particulars  to  the  treaty  negotiated  at 
Tientsin,  it  would  certainly  be  expedient  that  her  majesty’s  rep¬ 
resentative  in  China  choose  a  place  of  residence  elsewhere  than 
at  Pekin,  and  to  make  his  visits  to  the  capital  either  periodical, 
or  only  as  frequent  as  the  exigencies  of  the  public  service  may 
require.” 

The  commissioners  expressed  themselves  satisfied  with  this 
concession,  and  Lord  Elgin  determined  to  take  advantage  of  the 
temper  in  which  they  then  were,  and  their  evident  desire  to  satis¬ 
fy  any  minor  demands  in  order  to  gain  the  one  point,  to  state  his 
determination  of  proceeding  up  the  Yang-tse-Kiang,  “in  order 
that,  by  personal  inspection,  he  might  be  the  better  enabled  to 
judge  what  ports  along  its  shores  it  would  be  most  advisable  to 
open,  in  conformity  with  the  Treaty  of  Tientsin.” 

His  excellency  had  long  previously  determined  to  make  this 
expedition  before  leaving  China,  not  merely  for  the  purpose  above 
alluded  to,  but  with  the  view  of  creating  a  wholesome  moral  im¬ 
pression  upon  the  minds  of  the  people  upon  its  banks,  one  which 
should  be  felt  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  empire. 
He  scarcely,  however,  expected  an  occasion  so  opportune  as  that 

*  See  Appendix. 


490 


SIGNING  THE  TREATY  STIPULATIONS. 


which  now  presented  itself.  So  far  from  making  any  objection 
to  a  proposal  which,  a  few  months  before,  would  have  caused 
each  particular  commissioner’s  tail  to  stand  on  end,  they  state 
calmly:  “It  is  our  duty  to  acknowledge  this  letter,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  prepare  letters,  advising  the  authorities  along  the 
lines  of  your  coming.  We  will  also  send  officers  to  accompany 
you  with  letters,  that  there  may  be  a  satisfactory  understanding 
on  both  sides.” 

In  the  mean  time  Baron  Gros  returned  from  Japan,  where  he 
had  been  equally  successful  with  ourselves.  From  him  we  learn¬ 
ed,  for  the  first  time,  the  scarcely  credible  intelligence  to  which  I 
have  already  alluded,  of  the  emperor’s  death  six  weeks  before. 
The  fact  had  been  made  public  prior  to  his  arrival,  and  the  city 
of  Yedo  was  mourning  profoundly  for  the  departed  tycoon  dur¬ 
ing  the  whole  period  of  his  residence  in  it. 

On  the  30th  of  October  the  commissioners  returned  Lord  El¬ 
gin’s  visit  in  state,  and  the  project  of  the  Yang-tse-Kiang  expedi¬ 
tion  was  discussed.  It  only  remained  to  obtain  the  concurrence 
of  Baron  Gros  and  Mr.  Reed  to  the  tariff  and  trade  regulations,  as 
agreed  upon  between  the  British  and  Chinese  governments,  pre¬ 
paratory  to  their  being  formally  signed. 

The  harmony  which  had  characterized  Lord  Elgin’s  intercourse 
with  both  his  colleagues  throughout  was  not  destined  now  to  be 
interrupted.  They  thoroughly  assented  to  the  stipulations  con¬ 
tained  in  these  important  addenda  to  the  Treaty  of  Tientsin,  and 
on  the  8th  of  November  the  British  and  Chinese  commissioners 
met  at  a  temple  situated  on  the  outskirts  of  the  city,  and  affixed 
their  signatures  to  these  documents. 

While  thus  engaged  we  -could  see  the  Furious  in  the  river 
snorting  and  pawing  like  an  impatient  race-horse,  puffing  off 
sharp  jets  of  steam,  and  lashing  the  water  angrily  with  her  pad¬ 
dles.  It  was  not  Lord  Elgin’s  habit  to  keep  her  long  waiting. 
We  proceeded  straight  from  the  temple  to  our  floating  home.  In 
a  few  moments  more  we  were  dashing  through  a  maze  of  ship¬ 
ping  in  a  style  peculiar  to  our  gallant  ship  and  its  gallant  com¬ 
mander,  and  had  proceeded  several  miles  up  the  broad  bosom  of 
the  Yang-tse-Kiang  before  the  shades  of  night  compelled  us  to 
drop  anchor  in  its  little-known  waters. 


START  ON  THE  YANG-TSE-KIANG  EXPEDITION. 


491 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

All  the  Ships  aground. — The  Delta  of  the  Yang-tse. — Channel-hunting. — The  Ki- 
ang-yin  Bluffs. — Aspect  of  the  River-banks. — Hard  and  fast. — Silver  Island. — 
Yang-chow. — A  Scene  of  Desolation. — Chinkiang. — Effects  of  Rebel  Occupation. 
— Golden  Island. — Magnificent  View. — Oft'  the  Rock. — Tan-too. — Translation  of 
Chinese  Names. — Chinese  Orthography. — Entrance  to  the  Grand  Canal. — Ab¬ 
sence  of  Junk  Traffic. — Approach  to  Nankin. — Action  with  the  Rebels  at  Nankin. 
— Its  Results. 

I 

The  ships  which  composed  the  squadron  that  accompanied 
Lord  Elgin  upon  his  voyage  up  the  Yang-tse-Kiang  were  the 
Retribution,  Captain  Barker,  senior  officer  commanding ;  the  Fu¬ 
rious,  Captain  Sherard  Osborn ;  the  Cruiser,  Captain  Bythesea ; 
the  Hove,  surveying  gun-boat,  Commander  Ward,  and  the  Lee 
gun-boat,  Lieutenant  (now  Commander)  Jones. 

In  order  to  give  as  clear  and  detailed  account  as  possible  of  this 
most  successful  and  interesting  expedition,  I  shall  extract  from 
my  journal  the  daily  record  of  events. 

9  th  November.  All  our  squadron  are  in  sight  this  morning,  but 
we  are  dotted  about  the  yellow  waters  of  the  Yang-tse  in  a  some¬ 
what  irregular  fashion.  The  Cruiser,  which  had  preceded  us  yes¬ 
terday,  discovered  a  sand-bank  before  nightfall,  upon  which  she 
reposed  for  many  hours,  the  receding  tide  leaving  her  so  high  and 
dry  that  it  was  found  necessary  to  shore  her  up,  and  her  officers 
were  enabled  to  enjoy  their  exercise  in  the  afternoon  by  walking 
round  her  without  wetting  their  feet.  She  got  off  with  the  high 
tide,  however,  and  is  now  at  anchor  some  miles  ahead.  The  Hove 
and  Lee  are  exploring  for  a  channel ;  we  move  on  gently  in  obe¬ 
dience  to  their  signals  :  the  Retribution,  drawing  more  water  than 
any  of  us,  follows  cautiously,  but  nevertheless  takes  the  bottom ; 
the  Hove  goes  to  her  assistance,  and  we  are  left  to  find  our  own 
way,  which  we  don’t  succeed  in  doing,  but  ground  hopelessly  at 
the  top  of  high  water  on  hard  sand.  Before  dark  the  Retribution 
gets  off  and  comes  to  our  assistance,  slowly  feeling  her  way,  as  a 
man  does  on  weak  ice  when  he  goes  to  rescue  a  friend  who  has 
tumbled  in. 

It  soon  becomes  evident  that  we  have  no  alternative  but  to 


492 


THE  DELTA  OF  THE  YANG-TSE. 


lighten  the  ship,  and  all  night  long  the  crew  are  engaged  transfer¬ 
ring  to  the  Lee  the  heavy  guns  and  coal,  and  pumping  the  water 
from  the  boilers. 

10th.  We  have  already  learned  to  place  no  reliance  on  any  of 
the  Admiralty  charts  of  the  Yang-tse.  However  accurately  the 
survey  may  have  originally  been,  the  changes  which  have  taken 
place  in  the  bed  of  the  river  since  they  were  made  are  so  great 
that  we  have  only  our  instinct  for  deep  water  to  depend  upon. 
At  the  spot  on  which  we  are  now  aground  nine  fathoms  are 
marked  in  the  chart.  Meanwhile  twenty-four  hours  of  most  in¬ 
cessant  and  arduous  exertions  on  the  part  of  both  officers  and 
men  have  lightened  the  ship  sufficiently  to  enable  the  powerful 
Retribution  to  drag  her  off  by  main  force. 

The  Dove  and  Lee  have  found  the  channel  at  last,  and  before 
nightfall  we  are  all  anchored  together  in  the  Fairway,  under  Har¬ 
vey  Point.  The  breadth  of  the  river  is  still  so  great  that  the  op¬ 
posite  shore,  which  is  flat,  is  not  visible. 

1 1th.  Fortune  seems  inclined  to  smile  upon  us  to-day.  We 
move  rapidly  and  freely  along,  with  plenty  of  water  and  a  fair 
wind.  As  we  pass  the  spot  marked  in  the  chart  as  the  end  of 
Tsung-ming  Island,  we  observe  an  unexpected  continuation  of  the 
shore,  which  seems  to  connect  this  island  with  the  land  formerly 
known  as  Mason  Island,  blocking  up  completely  the  channel 
marked  in  the  charts  as  dividing  them.  It  is  not  improbable  that 
this  important  physical  change  in  the  delta  of  the  Yang-tse-Kiang 
may  have  altered  the  direction  of  the  current,  and  diverted  a  larger 
portion  of  it  through  the  northern  channel,  which  may  now  be 
found  to  be  the  most  available  for  navigation. 

Beyond  this  the  river  begins  to  narrow  rapidly.  At  Fooshan, 
the  Hill  of  Peace,  it  is  not  above  six  miles  in  breadth.  A  village 
and  fort  are  here  picturesquely  situated  on  some  low  hills  on  the 
right  bank.  On  the  opposite  shore  a  high  conical  hill  is  visible, 
crowned  by  a  pagoda  known  as  Langskan,  or  Wolf’s  Hill.  We 
are  just  congratulating  ourselves  on  our  rapid  progress,  when  the 
gun-boats  in  advance  run  up  the  hated  signal,  “  Ho  Channel,”  and, 
splitting  off  in  opposite  directions,  skirmish  cautiously  about  in 
search  of  deep  water. 

It  is  a  pretty  sight  to  watch  these  trusty  little  craft,  acting  as 
pioneers  to  the  three  large  ships  which  follow  carefully  in  their 
track  some  distance  astern,  ever  on  the  alert  to  respond  to  the 


CHANNEL  HUNTING.— THE  KIANG-YIN  BLUFFS.  493 

caution-signal,  and  placing  in  them  that  sort  of  confidence  which 
a  sportsman  does  in  his  dogs.  Now  they  are  ranging  the  river 
far  and  wide ;  now  they  are  pointing ;  we  creep  up  gently,  they 
creep  on  as  gently ;  the  scent  seems  good :  now  they  are  at  fault, 
they  throw  up  their  noses,  and  away  again  to  the  right  and  left, 
signaling  every  cast  of  the  lead.  We  keep  under  easy  steam  for 
a  while,  reading  the  flags  as  they  are  run  up ;  two  fathoms,  two 
and  a  half,  three,  two — it  is  of  no  use,  so  we  let  go  the  anchor, 
pipe  suppers,  and  make  all  snug  for  the  night. 

12th.  This  is  a  busy  but  unsuccessful  day ;  ship’s  boats  as  well 
as  gun-boats  are  out  channel-hunting.  There  must  be  a  passage 
somewhere  just  in  front  of  us — six  fathoms  are  marked  on  the 
chart.  We  pull  to  the  spot,  and  touch  the  bottom  with  a  boat¬ 
hook  ;  so  it  is  clearly  not  there.  The  Dove  has  harked  back  and 
is  out  of  sight ;  may  she  bring  back  good  news  to-morrow.  Mean¬ 
time  we  stay  where  we  are. 

13th.  Nothing  could  be  more  enjoyable  than  the  temperature  at 
this  time  of  year  in  the  Yang-tse-Kiang ;  but  these  lovely  days 
only  aggravate  us,  so  long  as  we  are  chained  to  one  spot.  At 
night  the  Dove  returned  with  the  welcome  intelligence  that  she 
has  found  a  channel. 

14 th.  Under  weigh  at  daylight.  We  are  compelled  to  retrace 
our  steps  for  about  six  miles ;  then  we  cross  over  to  the  northern 
shore,  and  find  a  deep  broad  lead,  along  which  we  steam  freely  for 
the  remainder  of  the  day.  The  river  is  still  very  wide  and  the 
shores  flat  until  we  reach  the  Kiang-yin  bluffs,  behind  which  is 
situated  the  city  of  the  same  name.  The  Cruiser,  with  her  limit¬ 
ed  horse-power,  has  not  been  able  to  keep  up  with  us,  so  we  anchor 
here  a  little  before  sunset. 

loth.  At  the  Kiang-yin  bluffs  the  river  narrows  considerably, 
and  presents  scenery  of  a  somewhat  picturesque  character.  Two 
batteries  are  built  so  as  to  command  this  pass,  but  in  such  a  way 
that  their  flank  might  very  easily  be  turned.  After  rounding  the 
hills,  one  of  which  is  crowned  with  a  temple,  we  open  up  the  tall 
pagoda  of  Kiang-yin.  A  great  quantity  of  junks  crowded  the 
creek  leading  to  the  town.  In  rear  was  a  range  of  hills  of  mod¬ 
erate  elevation,  between  which  and  the  river  margin  intervened  a 
strip  of  pleasantly-wooded  country.  Beyond  this  the  river  again 
expands ;  the  banks  once  more  sink  to  a  dull  uniform  level,  and 
the  only  signs  of  life  are  people  cutting  the  enormous  bulrushes 
which  fringe  them. 


494  ASPECT  OP  THE  RIVER-BANKS.— HARD  AND  FAST. 


We  observed  large  flights  of  wild  geese  and  ducks  passing 
southward.  As  the  wind  was  ahead  and  the  current  strong,  we 
took  the  Cruiser  in  tow.  The  Retribution  performed  the  same 
kind  office  for  the  Dove  and  Lee,  whose  tubes  wanted  cleaning. 
Our  progress  to-day  was  necessarily  slow ;  fortunately,  the  navi¬ 
gation  was  comparatively  free  from  difficulty. 

16th.  At  seven  o’clock  this  morning  the  thermometer  stood  at 
37°.  Shortly  after  getting  under  weigh  we  passed  Keunshan  Pa¬ 
goda,  perched  upon  a  hill  overhanging  the  river.  At  this  point 
the  banks  become  very  picturesque — high  rocky  bluffs  rise  pre¬ 
cipitously  from  the  water’s  edge,  and  behind  them  a  range  of  ir¬ 
regular  pointed  hills  form  a  complete  amphitheatre.  On  the  left 
bank  the  shores  are  wooded  and  populous,  occasionally  extensive¬ 
ly  cultivated,  and  groups  of  peasants  collect  upon  the  water’s  edge 
to  look  at  us,  as  the  five  ships  progress  steadily  in  line  against  both 
wind  and  stream.  Here,  too,  we  remarked  extraordinary  changes 
in  the  course  of  the  river.  At  one  place  it  divides;  one  channel, 
at  least  half  a  mile  in  width,  surrounding  a  populous  island,  which, 
at  the  date  of  the  chart,  had  been  part  of  the  main  land. 

The  sharp  exhilarating  air,  our  steady  progress,  and  the  increas¬ 
ing  interest  of  the  river-banks,  all  combined  to  raise  our  spirits. 
Presently  we  sweep  round  a  bold  projecting  bluff,  and  Silver  Isl¬ 
and  opens  to  view,  with  its  quaint  temples  embowered  in  autum¬ 
nal  foliage ;  their  white  walls  are  gleaming,  and  their  frowzy  priests 
are  basking  in  the  midday  sun.  Beyond,  a  noble  reach  of  the  riv¬ 
er  curves  beneath  the  swelling  hills  which  rise  from  its  margin, 
their  summits  crowned  with  the  irregular  wall  of  Chinkiang,  and 
their  slopes  strewn  with  the  debris  of  that  once  populous  city ; 
while  in  the  distance,  as  though  rising  from  mid-stream,  stands  a 
precipitous  rock  called  Golden  Island,  with  its  tall  pagoda  point¬ 
ing  to  the  skies. 

The  scene  is  one  of  such  surpassing  interest  and  beauty  that  it 
rivets  our  gaze.  We  are  just  lamenting  that  we  can  not  stop  for 
a  moment  to  appreciate  more  fully  its  merits,  when — crash,  our 
wishes  are  gratified — the  old  ship  gives  a  heave  and  a  lurch.  It 
is  too  late  now  to  u  stop  her,”  and  go  u  full  speed  astern.”  We 
are  irrevocably  pinnacled  on  the  top  of  a  rock ;  the  Cruiser  has 
barely  had  time  to  avoid  running  into  us,  and  shaves  cleverly  past 
us  as  she  sheers  off.  The  Retribution,  panic-stricken,  has  let  go 
her  anchor.  With  her  gun -boats  swinging  in  mid-stream  astern, 


ANCIENT  VASE.— SILVER  ISLAND. 


495 


she  looks  like  a  kite  with  a  tail.  The  current  sweeps  and  eddies 
past  with  impetuous  velocity,  and  gradually  succeeds  in  jamming 
us  broadside  on  to  the  rock,  converting  us  into  a  sort  of  break¬ 
water,  so  that  we  have  quite  a  little  sea  on  one  side,  and  a  dead 
calm  on  the  other. 

We  have  ceased  to  enjoy  the  view  now,  that  pleasure  being 
transferred  to  our  friends  the  priests,  who  are  apparently  much  in¬ 
terested  in  the  spectacle.  We  are  within  easy  hailing  distance  of 
them:  they  afterward  told  us  they  were  perfectly  aware  of  the 
danger  that  awaited  us,  but  they  gave  us  no  warning.  The  whole 
British  fleet,  consisting  of  several  ships  of  the  line,  besides  smaller 
craft,  had  passed  through  this  channel  fifteen  years  before  without 
discovering  this  fatal  rock,  and  sixteen  fathoms  were  marked  above 
it.  We  were  by  no  means  proud  of  our  discovery,  but  nobody 
was  to  blame  except  the  priests,  and  we  were  too  amiable  to  quar¬ 
rel  with  them,  so  we  landed  and  paid  them  a  visit.  The  island 
had  been  visited  by  the  rebels  at  a  comparatively  recent  date.  A 
great  part  of  the  very  handsome  temple  had  been  destroyed,  and 
the  idols  cast  into  the  river  by  them.  A  celebrated  vase,  reputed 
to  be  more  than  two  thousand  years  old,  was  kept  here ;  but,  on 
the  rumored  approach  of  these  iconoclasts,  those  who  were  intrust¬ 
ed  with  the  safe-keeping  of  this  precious  relic  buried  it  in  time  to 
insure  its  safety,  and  it  had  not  since  been  exhumed.  A  temple, 
which  formerly  stood  on  the  highest  part  of  the  island,  had  been 
burned,  more,  according  to  the  bonzes,  for  the  purpose  of  terrify¬ 
ing  the  neighborhood  than  from  fanaticism. 

The  island  itself  was  little  more  than  a  tumulus  rising  out  of 
the  centre  of  the  Yang-tse  to  a  height  of  scarce  two  hundred  feet, 
covered  with  the  richest  foliage,  at  this  season  of  the  year  a  blaze 
of  fiery  tints.  Its  highest  point  was  still  crowned  with  a  small 
edifice,  pagoda-shaped,  but  which  contained  nothing  more  inter¬ 
esting  than  the  somewhat  unimaginative  inscriptions  of  the  Brit¬ 
ish  sailor:  most  of  these  bore  the  date  of  August,  1842.  From 
this  elevated  position,  an  extensive  panoramic  view  was  obtained 
over  the  broad,  richly-cultivated  plain,  which  stretches  away  to 
the  northward,  at  this  particular  juncture  the  scene  of  rebel  dep¬ 
redations.  We  could  see,  looming  through  the  distant  haze,  the 
pagoda  of  Yang-chow,  reported  to  be  recently  taken  and  still  oc¬ 
cupied  by  the  rebels.  It  was  to  eject  them  from  this  city  that  the 
energetic  Ho  had  quitted  us  so  abruptly  at  Shanghai,  so  that  this 


496 


YANG-CHOW.— A  SCENE  OF  DESOLATION. 


martial  statesman  and  poet  was  even  now  in  our  immediate  prox¬ 
imity.  Yang-cliow  is  situated  on  the  Grand  Canal,  and  was  for¬ 
merly  reputed  to  be  a  city  of  great  wealth  and  splendor ;  it  has 
been  on  three  separate  occasions  in  the  hands  of  the  insurgents. 
Mr.  Wylie  says  that  a  famous  imperial  library  was  kept  here,  of 
which  there  were  only  two  duplicates  in  existence,  one  at  Pekin, 
and  the  other  at  Hang-chow.  This  valuable  collection  of  books, 
if  not  destroyed,  is  divided  and  completely  dispersed.  W e  could 
discern  the  houses  of  Kwa-chow  from  the  top  of  Silver  Island, 
well  known  as  the  entrance  of  the  Grand  Canal  into  the  Yang-tse ; 
and  in  other  directions  numerous  villages  and  towns  met  the  eye, 
dotted  over  the  fertile  plains,  and  giving  evidence  of  a  large  pop¬ 
ulation. 

As  in  nature  the  most  exquisite  flowers  are  generally  inhabited 
by  slimy  caterpillars,  so  in  China  the  most  lovely  retreats  are  in¬ 
variably  tenanted  by  grimy  ecclesiastics.  We  are  bound  to  re¬ 
member,  however,  that  we  are  indebted  to  them  for  picturesque 
buildings,  which  harmonize  admirably  with  the  scenes  in  which 
they  are  situated ;  while  the  priests  themselves,  in  their  long,  ash- 
colored  robes,  are  an  agreeable  addition,  so  long  as  they  are  kept 
in  the  back-ground  of  the  picture.  These  gentry  informed  us  that 
the  tidal  influence  extended  beyond  this  point,  but  was  not-  regu¬ 
lar  in  its  operations.  They  led  us  to  expect,  however,  a  rise  of 
two  or  three  feet,  and  this,  we  trusted,  would  be  sufficient  to  float 
us  off.  Meantime,  in  order  to  be  the  better  able  to  take  advant¬ 
age  of  any  favorable  change  which  might  occur,  we  commenced, 
for  the  second  time,  to  lighten  the  ship,  divesting  her  of  shot,  guns, 
spars,  coal,  etc.,  and  working  all  through  the  night. 

17 th.  Landed  on  the  right  bank,  and  walked  to  Chinkiang  over 
about  two  miles  of  plain,  intersected  by  the  remains  of  rough 
earth-works.  This  strip  of  level  ground,  which  intervenes  be¬ 
tween  a  range  of  hills  and  the  river,  was  until  recently  the  abode 
of  a  thriving  and  industrious  population.  Scarce  a  year  has 
elapsed  since  it  was  a  scene  of  violence  and  bloodshed,  the  theatre 
of  an  action  between  the  rebel  and  imperialist  forces.  The  dev¬ 
astation  is  now  widespread  and  complete.  A  few  of  the  peas¬ 
antry  have  crawled  back  to  the  desolate  spots  which  they  recog¬ 
nize  as  the  sites  of  their  former  homes,  and,  selecting  the  heaps  of 
rubbish  which  still  belong  to  them,  have  commenced  to  construct 
out  of  them  wretched  abodes — roughly  thatching  in  a  gable-end 


CHINKIANG. 


497 


that  has  escaped  the  general  destruction,  or  replacing  the  stones 
which  once  composed  the  walls  with  strips  of  matting.  Miserable 
patches  of  garden  were  being  brought  into  existence  between  the 
crumbling,  weed-covered  walls ;  but  the  destitute  appearance  of 
the  scanty  population  served  rather  to  increase  than  diminish  the 
effect  which  this  abomination  of  desolation  was  calculated  to  pro¬ 
duce. 

We  entered  the  city  by  the  north  gate,  and  might  have  imag¬ 
ined  ourselves  in  Pompeii.  We  walked  along  deserted  streets, 
between  roofless  houses,  and  walls  overgrown  with  rank,  tangled 
weeds ;  heaps  of  rubbish  blocked  up  the  thoroughfares,  but  they 
obstructed  nobody.  There  was  something  oppressive  in  the  uni¬ 
versal  stillness,  and  we  almost  felt  refreshed  by  a  foul  odor  which 
greeted  our  nostrils,  and  warned  us  that  we  had  approached  an 
inhabited  street. 

At  a  spot  where  were  a  few  chow-chow  shops,  and  two  partial¬ 
ly-inhabited  streets  crossed  each  other,  was  the  most  lively  place 
in  the  town.  We  obtained  a  small  share  of  interest  here  from  a 
mob  of  hungry,  ragged  boys;  but  the  people  generally  seemed 
too  much  depressed  even  to  stare  at  a  barbarian,  and  we  strolled 
unmolested  in  any  direction  our  fancy  led  us. 

On  our  way  to  a  fort  which  crowned  a  bluff  overhanging  the 
river,  we  passed  under  some  handsome  stone  arches,  which  were 
still  standing  conspicuous  amid  the  desolation  by  which  they  were 
surrounded.  From  our  elevated  position  we  commanded  an  ex¬ 
tensive  view  over  the  area  inclosed  by  the  walls  of  the  city,  and 
which  was  thickly  strewn  with  its  ruins. 

Chinkiang  was  first  taken  by  the  insurgents,  almost  without  re¬ 
sistance,  on  the  1st  of  April,  1853,  and  was  held  by  them  against 
a  continued  imperialist  siege  up  to  the  commencement  of  1857, 
when  it  was  evacuated  in  consequence  of  the  failure  of  supplies. 
It  has  been  held  by  the  imperialist  forces  ever  since.  To  judge, 
however,  from  the  reluctance  manifested  by  its  former  inhabitants 
to  return  to  it,  confidence  is  but  partially  restored.  Only  the 
very  poorest  class  of  traders  and  shopkeepers  have  ventured  into 
its  dilapidated  streets;  and  although  efforts  are  being  made  by 
the  government  to  give  some  stimulus  to  its  repopulation,  by  re¬ 
building  some  of  the  public  buildings,  such  as  the  government 
offices,  the  Confucian  Temple,  the  Drum  Tower,  etc.,  the  results 
are  by  no  means  encouraging.  The  rebels  have,  during  their  oc- 

I.I 


498 


GOLDEN  ISLAND. 


cupation,  considerably  enlarged  the  boundaries  of  the  city,  having 
carried  a  wall  over  the  heights  to  the  east  of  it,  and  down  nearly 
to  the  water’s  edge  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  inclosing  a  large 
space  beyond  the  old  wall  in  both  directions.  The  population  of 
Chinkiang  was  formerly  estimated  at  about  500,000 ;  it  does  not 
now  probably  contain  above  500  souls. 

1 8th.  We  have  painted  a  water-line  on  the  rocks,  so  as  to  be 
able  to  detect  the  variations  of  the  tide  at  a  glance.  As,  how¬ 
ever,  there  were  no  indications  of  a  rise  to-day,  and  the  ship  seem¬ 
ed  immovable,  we  chartered  a  small  native  boat,  and  started  off 
on  an  expedition  to  Golden  Island,  distant  about  five  miles.  As 
we  approached  it,  we  discovered,  to  our  astonishment,  that  it  was 
no  longer  an  island.  Flourishing  cabbage-fields  now  occupied 
the  space  marked  on  the  chart  as  a  channel  with  four  fathoms  of 
water  in  it. 

W e  landed  on  this  recently-formed  peninsula,  and  walked  across 
it  to  the  rock.  Climbing  up  the  steps  he  wn  out  of  the  living  stone, 
we  reached  the  base  of  the  pagoda,  shorn  now  of  those  external 
decorations  which  once  rendered  it  celebrated,  but  still  standing, 
a  battered  monument  of  its  own  departed  glory,  and  of  the  beauty 
by  which  it  was  surrounded. 

Heaps  of  unsightly  ruins  marked  the  spot  where  once  was 
grouped  a  picturesque  collection  of  temples  and  pagodas.  The 
Chinese  themselves  appreciated  its  romantic  beauty.  Sir  John 
Davis  thus  describes  the  impression  produced  upon  him  by  a  dis¬ 
tant  view  of  it,  obtained  years  before :  “  The  celebrated  Kinshan, 
br  Golden  Island,  which,  with  its  pagoda,  and  the  ornamental  roofs 
of  its  temples  and  other  buildings,  looked  like  a  fairy  creation  ris¬ 
ing  out  of  the  waters  of  the  Kiang.”  “  This  picturesque  place,” 
he  remarks,  “is  celebrated  all  over  China.” 

How,  with  the  exception  of  the  dilapidated  pagoda,  there  is  not 
one  stone  left  upon  another  of  the  remaining  buildings.  Though 
so  recently  destroyed,  a  remarkable  air  of  antiquity  seems  to  per¬ 
vade  this  sacred  spot.  The  rock-cut  steps  are  worn  and  crum¬ 
bling,  and  the  ruins  generally  look  as  though  centuries  had  passed 
since  the  destroyer’s  hand  had  been  ruthlessly  at  work.  A  line 
of  wall  with  a  few  wretched  guns  in  the  embrasures,  a  few  wretch¬ 
ed  soldiers  in  some  mat  tents  in  rear,  and  a  quantity  of  gay,  flaunt¬ 
ing  flags,  indicate  that  this  is  a  military  post.  These  banners  and 
embrasures  are  apparent  on  numerous  hill-tops,  and  surround  the 


MAGNIFICENT  VIEW.— AFLOAT  AGAIN. 


499 


city  of  Chinkiang.  If  we  were  to  judge  by  them,  the  preparations 
for  defense  would  seem  extensive  indeed ;  but  it  is  scarcely  too 
much  to  assert  that  there  are  more  flags  than  embrasures,  more 
embrasures  than  guns,  and  more  guns  than  men. 

We  sat  down  on  the  top  of  the  rock  to  discuss  a  sandwich  and 
a  glass  of  sherry,  and  enjoy  the  view.  It  was  one  of  melancholy 
beauty.  On  our  right  the  skeleton  houses  of  the  city  clustering 
up  the  hill  sides,  and  filling  the  whole  amphitheatre  with  their 
ruins — the  straggling  wall  running  along  the  ridges,  gay  with 
gaudy  banners  when  all  around  is  sad,  and  defending,  as  though 
in  mockery,  a  dreary  waste  of  rubbish ;  beyond,  the  irregular  out¬ 
line  of  distant  hills,  with  the  broad  river  spreading  itself  proudly 
out  upon  the  fertile  plains  to  the  north  and  east ;  fronting  us  Sil¬ 
ver  Island,  its  bright  coloring  toned  down  by  distance,  and  its  soft 
outline  contrasting  with  the  precipitous  bluffs  beside  it,  all  com¬ 
bined  to  form  a  picture  upon  which  it  was  pleasant  to  gaze  in 
that  mild  autumnal  afternoon. 

We  could  discern  the  ships  anchored  in  mid-stream :  one  which 
was  broadside  on,  and  leaning  very  much  over,  was  a  feature  in 
the  scene  we  could  have  gladly  dispensed  with.  In  the  situation 
of  Chinkiang,  its  ruined  state  and  the  nature  of  the  surrounding 
country,  I  was  a  good  deal  reminded  of  Kertch  after  its  evacua¬ 
tion  by  the  Russians.  We  walked  through  it  on  our  way  back, 
and  found  on  our  arrival  at  the  ship  some  excitement  existing  at 
the  prospect  of  getting  off.  The  paddle-wheels  were  revolving 
violently ;  hawsers  and  stream-cables  were  out  in  sundry  direc¬ 
tions  ;  those  who  were  not  hauling  at  something  were  jumping  or 
rolling  the  ship.  At  last  a  happy  and  combined  effort  proved 
successful,  and  she  seemed  literally  to  tumble  off  her  perch  into 
deep  water.  The  event  was  signaled  by  three  hearty  cheers 
from  all  hands,  which  had  no  sooner  subsided  than,  to  our  aston¬ 
ishment,  we  heard  them  faintly  echoed  from  the  shore.  We  were 
wondering  whether  the  Chinamen  were  mocking  us  when  they 
were  repeated,  and  we  then  discovered  that  Lord  Elgin  and  a 
small  party  of  walkers  were  thus  heartily  testifying  their  satisfac¬ 
tion.  The  singular  stillness  of  the  evening  air  rendered  sounds 
audible  at  a  great  distance.  Two  hundred  and  sixty  tons  in 
weight  had  been  removed  from  the  ship  before  she  had  been  suf¬ 
ficiently  lightened  to  float  off  the  rock. 

19 th.  Finding  that  we  should  be  detained  all  day  in  re-embark- 


500 


TRANSLATION  OF  CHINESE  NAMES. 


ing  our  heavy  weights,  a  party  of  us  landed  on  the  right  hank  to 
take  a  stroll  with  our  guns  and  explore  the  country.  We  killed 
three  brace  of  pheasants  in  the  flat,  half-cultivated,  half-wild  land 
near  the  margin  of  the  river,  and  one  of  our  party  had  a  shot  at  a 
deer.  We  approached,  but  did  not  enter  the  small  town  of  Tan  - 
too.  It  has  been  several  times  in  the  hands  of  the  rebels,  and 
was  the  farthest  point  reached  by  them  in  their  course  seaward. 
It  was  in  a  more  flourishing  condition  than  Chinkiang,  but  pros¬ 
perous  only  by  contrast.  Although  it  has  been  in  the  hands  of 
the  imperialists  for  a  much  longer  time  than  that  city,  a  large  por¬ 
tion  of  the  town  still  remains  in  ruins.  There  has  been  no  at¬ 
tempt  to  rebuild  the  temples,  and  many  of  the  poorer  inhabitants 
are  living  in  straw  huts.  Mr.  Wylie,  a  gentleman  connected  with 
the  American  mission  at  Shanghai,  and  who  accompanied  the 
squadron  for  some  distance  up  the  river,  told  us  that  formerly  it 
was  a  place  of  small  but  active  trade,  and  at  times  a  scene  of  busy 
traffic,  from  the  number  of  boats  passing  up  and  down  the  creek 
on  which  it  is  situated,  this  being  one  of  the  outlets  from  the 
Grand  Canal  at  seasons  when  the  route  by  Chinkiang  is  impass¬ 
able. 

2 0th.  A  little  after  daylight  this  morning  we  bade  adieu  to  our 
anchorage  off  Silver  Island,  or,  as  it  is  called  by  the  Chinese, 
T’seaou  Shan,  or  the  Hill  of  Sorrow — so  far  as  it  had  concerned 
us,  most  appropriately  so  named.  In  spite  of  Mr.  Meadows’ 
amusing  criticism  upon  P5re  Hue’s  practice  of  translating  Chinese 
names,  in  some  of  which  the  latter  has  perhaps  given  a  little  too 
loose  a  rein  to  his  poetical  imagination,  I  shall  indulge  with  mod¬ 
eration  in  the  same  weakness,  partly  because  I  find  that  other 
sinalogues  do  not  admit  the  force  of  Mr.  Meadows’  objection; 
while  I  certainly  can  not  grant  the  truth  of  his  analogy,  upon 
which  alone  I  am  competent  to  have  any  opinion. 

Mr.  Meadows  very  justly  remarks  that  it  would  be  absurd  for 
any  Frenchman  talking  of  u  Reading”  to  translate  it  by  the  French 
word  u  Lecture,”  but  he  surely  is  not  correct  when  he  says  that 
it  would  be  equally  absurd  to  talk  of  “  Bath”  as  “  Bain.”  It  may 
very  properly  be  doubted  whether  “  Reading”  is  the  English  for 
“  Lecture  ;”  but  it  is,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  highly  probable  that 
if  no  “  Bains”  had  existed  at  Bath,  that  city  would  have  been  en¬ 
dowed  with  some  less  significant  appellation. 

The  name  of  the  great  river  itself  upon  which  we  were  now 


CHINESE  ORTHOGRAPHY. 


501 


voyaging  lias  usually  received  an  interpretation,  which  I  was  as¬ 
sured  by  Messrs.  Wade  and  Lay  was  not  the  correct  one.  “  The 
Son  of  the  Ocean”  is  certainly  a  more  poetical  rendering  of  the 
word  Yang-tse-Kiang  than  “the  Son  that  Spreads;”  but  the  lat¬ 
ter  is  said  to  be  its  literal  meaning,  and  this  seems  the  more  prob¬ 
able,  as  it  is  only  applied  to  the  river  below  Silver  Island,  where 
the  delta  commences,  and  its  waters  expand  over  vast  alluvial 
plains  to  the  sea. 

Above  this  point  the  river  is  only  known  among  the  natives  as 
the  Ta-kiang,  or  “Great  River,”  which,  if  it  were  written  as  it  is 
pronounced,  would  be  spelt  Ta-cheang. 

I  have,  however,  in  this  instance  retained  the  old  style  of  spell¬ 
ing,  to  avoid  confusion.  Generally,  in  giving  the  names  of  places 
upon  the  river-bank,  I  have  adopted  the  principle  of  endeavoring 
to  render  with  English  letters  the  nearest  possible  approximation 
to  the  sound  of  the  Chinese  word.  In  doing  so,  I  know  that  I 
incur  the  scorn  and  contempt  of  even  the  most  amiable  of  Chi¬ 
nese  sinalogues.  These  gentlemen  have  attempted,  by  a  copious 
use  of  the  alphabets  of  other  European  languages,  and  with  the 
assistance  of  their  forms  of  accentuation  and  modes  of  pronuncia¬ 
tion,  in  addition  to  those  contained  in  our  own,  to  convey  to  our 
English  ear  some  idea  of  the  sounds  which  issue  from  Chinese 
throats  and  noses. 

I  deny  that  by  any  allocation  of  the  letters  known  to  civilized 
mortals  you  can  impart  to  them  the  faintest  notion  of  sounds  of 
which  they  are  totally  ignorant.  Indeed,  the  hopelessness  of  the 
task  is  pretty  well  proved  by  the  fact  that  every  sinalogue  sets 
about  it  in  a  different  way.  Take,  for  instance,  the  following 
word,  the  name  of  a  city  up  the  river,  which,  according  to  the  late 
Mr.  Morrison,  is  spelled  Ke-chow;  according  to  Williams,  K’f- 
chau ;  according  to  Wade,  Ch’i-chou  ;  and  according  to  the  Jesuit 
maps,  Khi-tcheou.  As  one  utterly  unlearned  in  Chinese  myself, 
and  presuming  that  my  reader  is  equally  ignorant  of  that  euphoni¬ 
ous  tongue,  I  would  recommend  him  to  sneeze,  as  the  easiest  way 
of  making  the  same  sound  that  a  Chinaman  would  in  alluding  to 
the  above  city.  The  town  at  which  we  afterward  left  the  Retri¬ 
bution  was  spelt  by  the  above  authorities  in  four  different  ways, 
viz.,  Kew-heen,  Kiu-hien,  Chiu-hsien,  Kieou-sien. 

Let  us  then  determine  to  employ  a  good,  honest  Saxon  pro¬ 
nunciation  in  our  use  of  Chinese  proper  names,  and  resign  the 


502 


ENTRANCE  TO  THE  GRAND  CANAL. 


grunts  and  snorts  which,  properly  belong  to  them  to  persons  who 
have  studied  the  art  of  producing  those  sounds.  At  Canton  we 
have  Anglicized  the  native  word  into  something  attainable  by 
English  tongues,  nor  do  we  talk  of  Ning-po/^/  let  us  not  be  driv¬ 
en  into  calling  Pekin,  Pei-cking,  as  the  latest  vocabulary  has  it, 
for,  even  if  we  did,  no  Chinaman  would  understand  us. 

Henceforth,  then,  we  are  to  be  considered  as  navigating  the 
mighty  waters  of  the  Ta-kiang,  and  well  does  it  deserve  its  high- 
sounding  title.  A  little  after  passing  Golden  Island  we  find  our¬ 
selves  abreast  the  walled  town  of  Kwa-chow,  or  the  Island  of 

t  • 

Gourds.  At  this  point  the  Grand  Canal  enters  the  Ta-kiang  from 
the  northward,  and  here  formerly  a  dense  crowd  of  trading  junks 
were  at  all  times  collected.  It  was  taken  by  the  rebels  the  day 
after  they  captured  Chinkiang,  and  was  only  recovered  about  the 
end  of  1857.  It  is  now  a  military  position,  and  we  observed  a 
considerable  body  of  cavalry  picketed  among  its  ruins;  not  a 
trading  junk  was  visible  on  what  was  formerly  the  great  highway 
for  the  internal  commerce  of  the  empire. 

Lord  Elgin  thus  alludes  to  the  condition  in  which  we  found  the 
Grand  Canal,  as  bearing  upon  his  recent  policy  in  the  north : 
“Soon  after  leaving  Silver  Island  we  passed  the  mouth  of  the 
Great  Canal,  which  we  found  to  be  entirely  deserted  save  by  a 
few  imperialist  war-vessels.  Captain  Osborn  informed  me  that, 
when  he  was  at  the  same  place  in  1842,  the  grain-junks  were  so 
numerous  that  it  was  difficult  to  force  a  way  through  them.  Your 
lordship  may  perhaps  remember  that  when,  in  April  last,  I  re¬ 
solved  to  bring  pressure  to  bear  on  the  emperor  by  ascending  the 
Peiho  Eiver  to  Tientsin,  it  was  remarked  in  some  quarters  that 
we  ought  rather  to  have  followed  the  precedent  of  the  former  war, 
and  to  have  instituted  a  blockade  in  the  Eiver  Yang-tse.  I  thought 
at  the  time  that  this  suggestion  was  an  anachronism,  and  what  I 
have  seen  on  this  trip  confirms  this  opinion. 

“We  could  hardly  have  done  more  than  the  rebels  have  done 
to  inflict  suffering  on  the  population,  and  render  these  districts 
unproductive  to  government,  and  yet  no  effect  has  been  produced 
by  these  proceedings  on  the  court  of  Pekin.”* 

Proceeding  onward  from  Kwa-chow,  we  passed  the  districts  of 
E-ching  and  Luh-ho,  which  have  frequently  been  the  scene  of 
Tai-ping  incursions.  Latterly  they  have  been  infested  by  rioters 

*  Blue-Book,  p.  443. 


APPROACH  TO  NANKIN.  503 

of  another  class,  known  among  the  natives  by  the  name  Nee-fei, 
more  local,  but  not  less  dreaded  than  the  former. 

The  country  now  becomes  more  hilly  in  character,  and  at  half 
past  four  P.M.  we  pass  under  Ping-shan  Pagoda,  situated  on  the 
top  of  a  hill,  backed  by  irregular  ranges,  with  valleys  in  deep 
shadow,  and  crests  glowing  in  the  afternoon  sun.  But  we  were 
getting  too  near  Nankin  to  think  of  any  other  effects  than  those 
which  are  likely  to  be  produced  by  the  appearance  of  the  Lee  in 
front  of  its  batteries.  This  gun-boat,  with  Mr.  Wade  on  board, 
has  been  sent  ahead  to  feel  the  way,  and  communicate  with  the 
rebels,  should  the  latter  be  so  disposed.*  We  follow,  a  mile  or 
so  astern,  the  Dove  leading  the  Retribution,  the  Furious  towing 
the  Cruiser. 

It  may  be  imagined  with  what  anxious  eyes  we  followed  the 
little  craft  as  she  passed  battery  after  battery,  apparently  unno¬ 
ticed  by  their  occupants.  By  this  time  we  were  passing  through 
the  fleet  of  imperialist  junks,  which  formed  the  advanced  position 
of  the  force  then  investing  Nankin.  The  crews  of  these  vessels 
were  watching  our  proceedings  with  breathless  interest.  At  last, 
just  as  the  Lee  seemed  beyond  the  reach  of  the  farthest  battery, 
the  red  flag  was  run  up  on  all  the  forts,  and  from  the  lowest  a 
round-shot  was  fired,  which  whistled  over  the  Lee,  and  caused  her 

*  The  following  is  the  memorandum  which  Lord  Elgin  addressed  to  Captain 
Barker  upon  this  occasion,  together  with  the  instructions  furnished  by  that  officer  to 
Lieutenant  Jones,  commanding  the  “Lee:” 

Memorandum  for  Captain  Barker's  information. 

“Collision  with  the  rebels  should,  if  possible,  be  avoided.  If,  therefore,  the  au¬ 
thorities  in  the  vicinity  of  Nankin  evince  any  desire  to  communicate,  we  should  be 
prepared  to  give  them  every  reasonable  assurance  that  we  do  not  present  ourselves 
with  hostile  intentions.  At  the  same  time,  it  will  be  proper  that  they  should  be  in¬ 
formed  that  we  are  proceeding  up  the  river  in  the  exercise  of  our  treaty-rights,  and 
that  any  attempt  to  arrest  our  progress,  by  whomsoever  made,  will  be  resisted. 

“Elgin  and  Kincardine. ” 

Instructions  addressed  to  Lieutenant  Jones. 

“It  is  my  direction  that  you  proceed  with  all  possible  speed  toward  Nankin,  em¬ 
barking  Mr.  T.  Wade,  Chinese  Secretary.  Should  no  notice  be  taken  of  the  Lee, 
you  will  proceed  past  Nankin,  and  await  my  joining.  Should  you  see  any  boat  with 
officials  clearly  approaching  the  Lee,  you  will  stop  and  communicate.  Should  a  shot 
be  fired  at  or  ahead  of  you,  you  will  hoist  a  flag  of  truce,  and  close  the  fort  for  the 
purpose  of  communication.  Should  the  flag  of  truce  be  fired  upon,  you  will  imme¬ 
diately  rejoin  the  squadron,  and  under  no  circumstances  are  you  to  fire  without  sig¬ 
nal  from  me.  (Signed),  C.  Barker,  Captain,  Senior  Officer.” 


504 


ACTION  WITH  THE  KEBELS  AT  NANKIN. 


to  run  up  smartly  the  flag  of  truce.  So  far,  however,  from  this 
signal  producing  the  desired  effect,  it  had  not  floated  three  min¬ 
utes  at  the  fore  before  seven  shots  were  fired  at  it  in  rapid  succes¬ 
sion  ;  Lieutenant  Jones,  true  to  his  orders,  not  returning  the  fire 
until  he  saw  the  u  engage”  signal  flying  from  the  mast-head  of 
the  Retribution.  By  this  time  the  Dove  had  got  well  within 
range,  and  she  opened  the  ball  with  spirit  almost  at  the  same  mo¬ 
ment  that  the  Lee  proceeded  to  indemnify  herself  for  her  forbear¬ 
ance  by  a  vigorous  cannonade.  The  Retribution,  Furious,  and 
Cruiser  now  ranged  up  as  close  to  the  batteries  as  possible,  and, 
moving  very  slowly  ahead,  threw  in  a  pretty  hot  shower  of  shot 
and  shell.  At  this  point  the  river  is  not  above  a  thousand  yards 
broad,  with  batteries  on  both  banks,  which  replied  wTarmly  to  our 
fire,  and  gave  abundant  occupation  to  the  starboard  as  well  as  the 
port  guns. 

Lord  Elgin  had  taken  up  his  position  on  the  bridge  between 
the  paddle-boxes ;  but  a  round-shot  cutting  through  a  rope  with¬ 
in  two  feet  of  his  head  induced  Captain  Osborn  to  exert  his  au¬ 
thority  as  commander,  and  we  were  all  ordered  to  the  deck.  For¬ 
tunately,  although  the  ship  was  hulled  seven  or  eight  times,  two 
round-shot  going  into  Lord  Elgin’s  cabin,  and  another  smashing 
his  barge,  no  more  serious  casualty  occurred  than  a  scratch  from 
a  splinter. 

Meanwhile  the  Retribution,  which  was  just  ahead  of  us,  did  not 
escape  so  happily.  She  had  one  man  killed  and  two  wounded 
severely,  one  of  whom,  the  signal  midshipman,  Mr.  Birch,  lost  an 
arm,  and  the  other  a  leg.  It  was  now  nearly  half  past  five ;  the 
action  had  only  lasted  thirty -five  minutes,  and  we  had  passed  all 
the  forts.  As  evening  was  closing  in,  it  was  determined  to  anchor 
for  the  night  about  two  miles  above  the  city.  Captain  Barker,  in 
consultation  with  Captain  Osborn,  then  decided  that  the  imperti¬ 
nence  of  the  rebels  in  offering  resistance  to  our  progress  up  the 
river  in  the  exercise  of  our  treaty-right,  and  firing  upon  a  flag  of 
truce,  ought  not  to  go  unpunished.  In  this  view  Lord  Elgin  fully 
concurs;  and  it  is  accordingly  arranged  that  at  daylight  to-mor¬ 
row  we  drop  down  abreast  of  the  batteries,  and  hammer  them  into 
ruins  and  their  o-arrisons  into  submission. 


RENEWAL  OF  THE  ACTION. 


505 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

Renewal  of  the  Action. — A  sharp  Bombardment. — The  Batteries  silenced. — An 
Action  between  Rebels  and  Imperialists. — Progress  up  Stream. — The  Rebels  re¬ 
ceive  a  Lesson. — We  land  for  Information. — Destitute  Peasantry. — Request  to  aid 
the  Rebels. — Notification  in  reply. — Enter  the  province  Ngan-Hwui. — A  military 
Procession. — The  Eastern  and  Western  Pillar  Gates. — Arrival  at  Woohoo.' — A 
Letter  from  the  Rebel  Chief. — We  pay  him  a  Visit. — A  disorderly  Mob. — Varie¬ 
gated  Costumes. — An  imperialist  Spy. — Former  Condition  of  Woohoo. — Its  pres¬ 
ent  State. — A  Tai-ping  Manifesto. 

October  21  si  Day  liad  not  yet  dawned  wlien  we  were  all  awake 
and  bustling  on  board  the  Furious.  The  vigorous  fire  kept  up 
last  evening,  and  the  readiness  evinced  by  tbe  rebels  to  commence 
an  engagement,  led  us  to  anticipate  a  sharp  action  to-day,  and  we 
made  our  preparations  accordingly.  The  morning  was  chill  and 
biting,  but  the  blood  was  circulating  pretty  rapidly  in  the  veins 
of  most  of  us  nevertheless,  and  we  were  warmed  with  the  healthy 
glow  arising  from  the  excitement  of  anticipation.  Gradually  the 
two  hills,  upon  the  sides  and  round  the  base  of  which  Nankin  is 
situated,  loomed  through  the  early  haze,  and  then  the  long  line 
of  batteries  on  the  right  bank  became  indistinctly  visible. 

Opposite,  the  solitary  fort  of  Poo-kow  was  appropriated  exclu¬ 
sively  to  the  Cruiser ;  and  as  we  scanned  the  fair  proportions  of 
that  handsome  craft,  we  doubted  not  that  her  eighteen  guns  would 
render  a  very  good  account  of  its  batteries.  Gradually  the  details 
of  the  scene  became  wonderfully  distinct ;  the  batteries  seemed  get¬ 
ting  suddenly  larger ;  and  I  for  the  first  time  discovered  that  we 
were  no  longer  at  anchor,  but  floating  silently  with  the  tide  into 
the  respective  positions  allotted  to  the  different  ships. 

As  the  Poo-kow  battery  was  the  nearest,  the  Cruiser  got  first 
into  action,  and  her  gallant  commander,  Bythesea,  seemed  determ¬ 
ined  not  to  give  the  garrison  any  excuse  for  missing  him.  He 
ranged  his  ship  steadily  up  to  within  fifty  yards  of  the  guns,  as 
though  taunting  the  enemy  to  begin,  and  then  opened  his  broad¬ 
side  with  telling  effect.  A  few  feeble  shot  were  returned  in  re¬ 
ply  ;  but  so  rapid  and  destructive  was  the  Cruiser’s  fire,  that  it 
was  evident  the  fort  of  Poo-kow  was  not  long  destined  to  be  the 
abiding-place  of  its  brave  garrison. 


506  A  SHARP  ENGAGEMENT.— THE  BATTERIES  SILENCED. 

The  discharge  of  our  own  pivot-gun  roused  us  from  the  con¬ 
templation  of  the  Cruiser’s  achievements,  and  the  remaining  three 
ships  now  began,  in  concert  with  ourselves,  to  pour  such  a  storm 
of  shot,  shell,  grape,  and  rockets  into  the  batteries,  that  our  fire  of 
the  previous  evening  seemed  mere  child’s  play  to  the  bombard¬ 
ment  we  were  now  keeping  up.  It  evidently  produced  its  effect 
in  the  rebel  batteries,  for  they  replied  but  feebly  and  at  intervals. 
From  the  main- top-gallant  cross-trees  I  could  look  down  into  the 
forts,  and  see  the  men  in  bright  dresses  clustering  round  the  guns, 
or  grouped  in  sheltered  corners,  or  bolting  like  rabbits  from  some 
spot  where  a  Moorsom  shell  had  just  burst,  scattering  fragments 
and  spreading  dismay  far  and  wide. 

The  one-sided  nature  of  the  action  may  be  gathered  from  the 
fact  that,  during  the  hour  and  a  half  that  it  lasted,  we  were  only 
hulled  once,  while  no  casualties  occurred  on  board  any  of  the 
ships.  It  was  evident  that  either  our  bombardment  of  the  previ¬ 
ous  evening,  or  the  suddenness  with  which  we  opened  fire  this 
morning,  had  thoroughly  cowed  our  opponents.  Their  fire  grad¬ 
ually  ceased  entirely,  and,  as  an  ardent  young  midshipman  lugu¬ 
briously  remarked,  u  they  seemed  determined  not  to  show  us  any 
sport.”  So  the  original  intention  of  landing  and  spiking  the  guns 
was  given  up,  and  we  withdrew,  the  less  reluctantly  as  we  ob¬ 
served  the  imperialist  fleet  through  which  we  had  passed  the 
evening  before  plucking  up  heart,  and,  led  by  a  steamer  in  the 
service  of  the  Chinese  government,  commence  a  fierce  action  at  a 
three-mile  range. 

When  the  rebels  saw  that  we  were  in  no  way  connected  or  co¬ 
operating  with  this  valiant  squadron,  they  opened  fire  upon  it 
manfully  from  some  of  the  batteries  which  had  suffered  least  from 
our  bombardment;  and  as  wTe  steamed  away  up  the  river,  we 
could  hear  the  action  still  raging  furiously,  in  all  probability  with 
very  slight  consequences  to  either  side. 

The  Chinese  commissioners  at  Shanghai  had  appointed  a  petty 
mandarin  to  accompany  us,  whose  presence  was  intended  as  a 
guarantee,  to  the  authorities  with  whom  we  might  come  in  con¬ 
tact,  of  our  recognized  right  to  navigate  the  waters  of  the  Ta- 
kiang,  and  who  was  also  expected  to  assist  us  in  commissariat  and 
other  arrangements.  This  gentleman  lived  in  a  boat  which  we 
towed  astern,  and  which,  upon  the  morning  of  the  action,  was  left 
at  anchor  in  the  stream,  while  its  occupants  were  taken  on  board 


ACTION  BETWEEN  REBELS  AND  IMPERIALISTS.  507 

the  Cruiser  for  safety,  where  they  remained  in  a  considerable  state 
of  alarm  until  it  was  over. 

W e  observed  the  heights  in  rear  of  Nankin  crowned  with  the 
tents  and  banners  of  the  imperialist  forces  investing  the  city,  their 
encampment  extending  apparently  for  many  miles. 

Shortly  after,  we  observed  a  fleet  of  junks  ahead  which  we  pre¬ 
sumed  to  be  rebel,  more  especially  as  we  saw  them  firing  appar¬ 
ently  at  the  Dove,  then  our  leading  gun-boat.  Mr.  Wade  was  ac¬ 
cordingly  sent  on  in  the  Lee  to  investigate,  and  discovered  them 
to  be  an  imperialist  squadron  engaging  the  advanced  rebel  batter¬ 
ies  in  this  direction. 

The  action  was  so  feebly  maintained  that  we  passed  through 
the  midst  of  it  without  condescending  to  notice  the  fire  of  either 
side. 

An  island  about  eight  miles  long  extends  from  Nankin  to  this 
point,  where  the  rebel  batteries  are  separated  from  the  imperial  po¬ 
sition  of  Hea-san-shan  by  a  narrow  creek.  This  is  the  only  point 
held  by  the  imperialists  on  the  south  bank  between  Nankin  and  a 
post  a  few  miles  above  Woohoo,  or  about  sixty  miles  higher  up 
the  river. 

We  now  observed  ranges  of  hills,  apparently  varying  between 
one  and  two  thousand  feet  in  height,  on  both  sides  of  the  river. 
Those  to  the  north  were  at  a  great  distance,  and  only  occasional¬ 
ly  visible.  The  southern  ranges,  however,  in  some  places  approach 
the  river,  decreasing  in  elevation,  and  forming  a  line  of  bluffs  over¬ 
hanging  the  water.  The  plain  which  intervened  between  us  and 
the  northern  ranges  was  apparently  thinly  populated,  and,  as  far 
as  we  could  discern,  an  expanse  of  marshes  and  moorland.  We 
passed  only  one  insurgent  position  on  the  northern  bank,  that  of 
Too-tse-ke ;  and  in  the  distance  we  could  distinguish  the  pagoda  of 
Ho-chow,  the  chief  city  of  a  department  of  the  same  name,  and 
now  in  the  hands  of  the  rebels.  It  is  mentioned  by  Sir  John  Da¬ 
vis  as  having  been  visited  by  some  of  Lord  Amherst’s  party  on  the 
occasion  of  their  ascent  of  the  river  in  1816.  When  we  refer  to 
their  account  of  the  traffic  upon  its  waters  in  those  days,  it  is  mel¬ 
ancholy  to  think  of  the  change  which  the  last  few  years  have 
wrought  upon  the  internal  trade  of  central  China.  During  the 
whole  of  this  day’s  steaming  we  did  not  observe  a  single  junk 
upon  this  magnificent  highway  of  commerce. 

We  were  destined  not  to  close  the  day,  which  had  commenced 


508 


THE  REBELS  RECEIVE  A  LESSON. 


so  noisily,  without  a  little  more  excitement.  Upon  rounding  a 
bold  bluff  which  projected  into  the  river,  we  came  suddenly  upon 
a  small  town,  built  in  a  recess  of  the  hills,  and  protected  by  two 
or  three  circular  stone  redoubts,  mounting  three  or  four  guns 
each.  These  we  were  inspecting  through  our  telescopes,  very 
much  in  the  spirit  in  which  a  Newfoundland  would  investigate  a 
lapdog,  when,  to  our  amazement,  a  posse  of  swaggering  rebels 
came  trooping  down  to  the  water’s  edge,  dressed,  as  is  usual  with 
them,  in  many-colored  garments,  flourishing  yellow  and  crimson 
flags,  and  led  by  a  horseman  in  a  crimson  coat  and  loose  white 
trowsers,  who  looked  extremely  picturesque,  caracoling  and  va¬ 
poring  in  front  of  his  variegated  men.  He  brandished  a  match¬ 
lock  in  his  hand,  which  he  fired  defiantly  at  us,  we  being  about 
five  hundred  yards  distant  at  the  time;  thereupon  his  followers 
exploded,  in  a  futile  and  absurd  manner,  all  their  gingalls  at  us. 
This  they  did  two  or  three  times,  and  we  slackened  speed  to 
watch  their  humors ;  but  when  they  all  repaired  into  one  of  the 
circular  redoubts,  and  popped  off  one  of  their  brass  guns  at  us,  we 
considered  the  joke  had  gone  far  enough,  and  sent  a  round-shot 
whistling  over  their  heads.  But  the  flags  waved  more  defiantly 
than  ever ;  so  the  Ketribution,  making  splendid  practice,  dropped 
a  Moorsom  right  into  the  centre  of  the  fort,  sending  the  entire 
construction  into  the  air,  and  those  of  its  occupants  who  were  still 
alive  skimming  along  the  bare  hill  side,  their  panic-stricken  lead¬ 
er,  now  on  foot,  rolling  repeatedly  over  and  over  in  his  headlong 
flight,  and  the  bright  garments  of  his  soldiers  streaming  in  the 
wind  as  they  ran  after  him.  The  sight  tickled  Jack’s  fancy  so 
much  that  he  could  scarcely  stand  by  his  gun  for  laughing. 

The  town  itself  was  surrounded  by  a  wall,  and  perched  upon  a 
low  hill  about  fifteen  hundred  yards  distant.  A  large  crowd  had 
collected  outside  the  gate,  chiefly  composed  of  rebel  soldiers  watch¬ 
ing  the  proceedings.  We  sent  them  a  ten-inch  shell,  just  to  give 
them  some  idea  of  our  armament.  The  impression  which  this 
little  episode  produced  was  most  salutary,  as  we  found  the  same 
evening,  when  we  anchored  a  few  miles  higher  up,  close  to  the 
prefectural  city  of  Tai-ping.  The  place  at  wfflich  it  occurred  was 
called  Tsae-shih-ke. 

A  division  of  the  river  into  three  channels  just  below  Tai-ping 
baffled  us  a  little  before  sunset;  so  we  remained  there  for  the 
night,  and  I  went  on  shore  with  Mr.  Wade  for  the  purpose  of  col- 


DESTITUTE  PEASANTRY. 


509 


lecting  information  from  some  stray  peasant  near  the  river-bank 
with  reference  to  the  relative  merits  of  the  channels  ahead.  After 
the  little  experience  we  had  just  had  of  their  feelings  toward  ns, 
we  were  compelled  to  proceed  with  caution.  As  it  was  not  deem¬ 
ed  advisable  to  go  out  of  sight  or  range  of  the  ships,  we  landed 
near  a  hut  a  few  yards  from  the  river-bank,  and  walked  up  alone 
to  reconnoitre  it.  Not  a  soul  was  visible :  a  harsh-voiced  cur, 
which  bayed  incessantly  at  us,  was  the  only  sign  of  life,  until  at 
last  we  dug  out  a  very  decrepit  old  woman,  who  refused  to  com¬ 
prehend  Wade’s  excellent  Chinese,  till  an  old  man,  overhearing 
his  repeated  assurances  that  we  should  do  them  no  harm,  emerged 
from  a  place  of  concealment,  but  proved  very  little  more  intel¬ 
ligent  than  his  better  half.  His  long  matted  hair  only  partially 
concealed  the  tail  that  was  coiled  up  beneath  it,  while  his  cadav¬ 
erous  countenance  and  ragged  attire  proved  that  he,  at  all  events, 
had  not  thriven  on  rebellion.  When  we  asked  him  whether  he 
was  a  rebel,  he  answered  with  a  shrug,  “  How  could  he  be  other¬ 
wise.”  He  told  us  that  he  was  wretchedly  poor,  and  gave  us  to 
understand  that  he  and  all  his  neighbors  had  been  utterly  ruined 
by  the  “troublesome  pests,”  as  they  are  commonly  called  by  the 
Loyalists.  The  aspect  of  the  surrounding  country  fully  confirm¬ 
ed  our  informant’s  account  of  the  destitution  of  its  inhabitants ; 
for,  in  addition  to  the  rural  population  which  properly  belonged 
to  it,  the  fields  were  dotted  with  wretched  straw  huts,  the  tem¬ 
porary  abodes  of  the  townspeople,  who  had  been  ejected  from 
their  urban  domiciles  by  the  rebels,  it  being  the  practice  of  these 
vagabonds  to  appropriate  to  themselves  the  houses  of  the  unfor¬ 
tunate  citizens. 

The  entire  population  in  districts  occupied  by  rebels  allow  their 
hair  to  grow,  long  hair  being  the  distinguishing  characteristic  of 
the  Tai-ping  faction.  Hence  they  are  commonly  called  “the 
long-haired  men.”  Generally,  however,  from  prudential  motives, 
they  preserve  their  tails  concealed  beneath  their  flowing  locks,  so 
that  in  the  event  of  their  falling  into  the  clutches  of  the  imperial¬ 
ists,  they  may,  by  a  rapid  tonsure,  be  enabled  to  assume  the  as¬ 
pect  of  a  long-tailed  adherent  of  the  imperial  cause. 

Shortly  after  our  return  to  the  ship  a  communication  arrived 
from  a  rebel  chief  at  Tai-ping,  inclosed  in  a  yellow  envelope,  on 
one  side  of  which  was  written,  “Your  younger  brother,  junior 
tsien-tien  of  the  navy,  Hiung  Kwang  Ming,  respectfully  greets 


510  REQUEST  OF  THE  REBELS  FOR  AID,  AND  THE  REPLY. 

your  excellencies  the  foreigners.”  On  the  other,  the  date,  “13th 
day  of  the  10th  moon  of  the  8th  year — viz.,  the  Wu-Wu  of  the 
Heavenly  Kingdom  of  Tai-ping,”  was  covered  by  the  official  seal 
of  the  same  Hiung,  setting  forth  his  titles  as  above. 

Within  he  writes,  after  repeating  the  greeting  written  on  the 
cover:  “  Whereas  your  younger  brother  is  in  chief  command  of 
the  armed  (lit.,  gun)  vessels  of  the  Heavenly  Kingdom,  and  has 
been  several  years  engaged  with  the  boats  of  the  demons  without 
being  able  to  exterminate  them,  he  earnestly  prays  your  foreign 
excellencies,  with  all  your  heart  and  might,  to  assist  him  in  anni¬ 
hilating  the  rebel  vessels ;  and  your  younger  brother  will  present 
a  memorial  to  the  Heavenly  King,  moving  him  to  confer  titles  and 
rewards  on  your  foreign  excellencies.” 

The  inducements  here  held  out  were,  unfortunately  for  the 
rebels,  not  sufficiently  attractive  to  tempt  Lord  Elgin  to  assist 
them  in  the  laudable  undertaking  of  exterminating  the  “De¬ 
mons,”  or  “  Imps,”  as  the  imperialists  are  usually  styled  by  the 
rebels. 

The  following  notification  was  returned  in  reply  to  the  above : 

“The  Earl  of  Elgin,  embassador  of  her  majesty  the  Queen  of 
England,  issues  a  notification  :  Whereas  a  number  of  her  majesty’s 
ships  were  on  their  way  to  Hankow,  it  was  the  particular  desire 
of  the  embassador  that  the  party  in  possession  of  Nankin  should 
understand  that  these  ships  were  proceeding  with  no  hostile  in¬ 
tentions  to  them.  Eor  this  purpose,  a  small  vessel  was  specially 
detached  in  advance.  A  gun  was  fired  on  her,  to  which,  in  obe¬ 
dience  to  her  instructions,  she  made  no  return,  but  hoisted  a  flag 
of  truce.  The  garrison  of  Nankin,  notwithstanding,  continued 
to  fire  at  her.  The  forts  commanding  the  passage  have  been,  in 
consequence,  taken  and  demolished,  as  a  warning  to  all  who  may 
be  hereafter  minded  to  interfere  with  the  ships  of  her  majesty.” 

We  subsequently  learned  that  news  of  the  punishment  which 
we  had  inflicted  on  Nankin  this  morning  had  reached  Tai-ping 
by  land  as  quickly  as  we  had  by  water,  and  produced  exactly  the 
impression  which  Lord  Elgin  desired  upon  the  rebel  leaders  at 
the  forts  farther  up  the  river.  The  importance  of  securing  our¬ 
selves  from  farther  molestation  by  a  vigorous  display  of  force  at 
the  outset  seemed  to  him  to  justify  the  somewhat  rough  treatment 
which  the  Nankin  insurgents  had  experienced  at  our  hands. 

A  farther  evidence  of  their  desire  to  conciliate  was  obtained  at 


ENTER  THE  PROVINCE  OF  NGAN-HWUI. 


511 


a  late  hour  of  the  night.  After  we  had  u  turned  in,”  some  of  our 
party  were  knocked  up  to  receive  a  present  for  Lord  Elgin  of  a 
number  of  fowls  and  two  pieces  of  red  cloth. 

22 d.  The  gun-boats  were  under  weigh  early  this  morning,  in¬ 
vestigating  the  respective  merits  of  the  channels  ahead.  At  last 
we  hit  upon  the  right  one,  and,  as  we  passed  along  it,  obtained  a 
good  view  of  Tai-ping-foo.  This  is  a  prefectural  city  of  the  prov¬ 
ince  of  Ngan-hwui,  and  has  been  for  many  years  a  strong-hold  of 
the  insurgents.  It  was  first  taken  by  them  on  the  7th  of  March, 
1853.  They  speak  of  seven  or  eight  thousand  troops  being  quar¬ 
tered  there. 

W e  are  now  in  the  province  of  Ngan-hwui,  having  entered  it 
yesterday,  a  few  miles  before  arriving  at  Tai-ping.  Ngan-hwui 
means  “Peace  and  Excellence;”  that  is,  the  peaceful  and  excel¬ 
lent  province.  It  was  formerly  joined  to  Kiang-su  as  one  prov¬ 
ince,  under  the  name  of  Kiang-nan.  Its  area  is  greater  than  that 
of  Kiang-su,  and  is  computed  at  from  forty  to  forty -five  thousand 
square  miles.  The  area  of  these  two  provinces  is  about  the  same 
as  that  of  the  two  states  of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  and  the 
population  of  Ngan-hwui  was  computed,  according  to  the  last 
census,  at  about  thirty-four  millions. 

We  had  scarcely  cleared  the  intricate  channels  leading  past 
Tai-ping  when  the  Retribution  took  the  ground,  still  within  sight 
of  the  three  pagodas  of  the  city.  The  whole  day  was  employed 
in  getting  her  off.  Meanwhile  the  time  was  not  lost  to  our  sur¬ 
veyors,  who  were  actively  occupied  taking  observations  and  map¬ 
ping  out  the  river.  A  party  of  rebels  communicated  with  Com¬ 
mander  W ard  while  thus  engaged ;  they  assured  him  that  the  fir¬ 
ing  upon  us  at  Nankin  was  quite  a  mistake;  that  orders  had  been 
given  that  we  should  not  be  fired  upon  again ;  and  that  any  de¬ 
scription  of  arms  and  ammunition,  but  especially  percussion-caps, 
would  be  thankfully  received.  While  at  anchor  at  this  point,  we 
observed  a  force,  which  we  estimated  at  about  five  thousand  men, 
march  out  of  Tai-ping,  apparently  in  the  direction  of  Woohoo. 
The  stream  of  soldiers  lasted  for  about  three  quarters  of  an  hour ; 
they  presented  a  gay  and  picturesque  appearance:  officers  on 
horseback,  in  red,  blue,  or  yellow,  and  men  in  many-colored  uni¬ 
forms,  while  hundreds  of  gaudy  umbrellas  and  waving  flags  added 
to  the  brilliancy  of  the  procession.  Just  before  sun-down,  to  our 
infinite  joy,  the  Retribution  was  hauled  off  her  bank  into  deep 


512 


EASTERN  AND  WESTERN  PILLAR  GATES. 


water;  it  was  too  late,  liowever,  to  shift  our  position  to-night, 
and  sundry  anchors  have  yet  to  be  picked  up,  involving  a  little 
farther  delay. 

23d  Under  weigh  about  eleven.  Fourteen  miles  from  Tai- 
ping  we  reached  the  finest  piece  of  scenery  we  have  yet  seen. 
The  river  here  forces  itself  through  a  mighty  barrier  of  rock,  the 
precipitous  walls  of  which  rise  from  its  waters;  their  rugged 
flanks  are  scored  with  zigzag  paths  and  steps  hewn  out  of  the 
living  stone,  and  their  projecting  ledges  are  scarped  into  batteries. 

These  fine  masses  of  rock  are  called  the  Se-leang-shan  and 
Tung-leang-shan,  or  Eastern  and  Western  Pillar  Hills,  or,  more 
poetically,  the  Teen-mun,  or  Celestial  Gate.  The  Se-leang-shan 
resembled  in  shape  the  Rock  of  Gibraltar  on  a  small  scale.  Davis 
calls  it  five  hundred  feet  in  height ;  I  should  not  have  estimated  it 
at  more  than  three  hundred.  Half  wTay  up  he  visited  a  temple  in 
the  rock,  which  is  now,  in  all  probability,  converted  into  a  guard¬ 
house.  Crowds  of  gay  soldiers  thronged  the  batteries,  their  flags 
flaunting  from  dizzy  pinnacles,  and  their  guns  perched  on  crags 
where  it  looked  a  service  of  danger  to  work  them.  We  congrat¬ 
ulated  ourselves,  as  we  passed  through  this  narrow  gorge — for 
the  river  was  not  more  than  half  a  mile  in  width — that  the  gar¬ 
rison  had  received  orders  to  confine  themselves  to  staring  at  us, 
which  they  did  most  eagerly. 

This  pass  is  the  key  to  the  upper  part  of  the  river,  and  would 
be  impregnable  in  the  hands  of  a  civilized  force.  As  it  is,  not  an 
imperialist  junk  can  show  itself  between  Woohoo  and  Nankin; 
and  as  all  the  rebel  junks  have  been  destroyed,  the  river  is  entire¬ 
ly  deserted.  At  the  foot  of  the  Se-leang-shan  is  a  small  town, 
guarded  by  a  battery,  and  a  slip  of  sand  runs  out  from  it  into  the 
river,  upon  which  some  raking  guns  might  be  placed.  Immedi¬ 
ately  on  emerging  from  this  defile  we  reach  a  bifurcation  of  the 
river.  We  follow  the  southern  branch,  which  is  deep  and  com¬ 
paratively  narrow,  winding  under  bluffs  which  form  its  southern 
bank ;  while  on  the  flat  island  opposite  are  constructed  a  series 
of  five  forts,  admirably  neat,  and  substantially  built.  The  walls 
were  apparently  of  solid  mud.  They  were  loop-holed  for  mus¬ 
kets,  and  cut  into  little  embrasures  for  gingalls.  Cannon  seemed 
scarce,  and  were  confined  to  the  angles,  which  were  constructed 
of  stone. 

These  batteries  were  placed  within  half  a  mile  of  each  other, 


ARRIVAL  AT  WOOHOO. 


513 


close  to  the  river  margin,  and  were  well  garrisoned.  Altogether, 
had  our  observation  of  the  rebels  been  limited  to  the  appearance 
presented  bj  their  fortifications  and  garrisons  at  this  section  of 
the  river,  we  should  have  been  led  to  form  a  much  more  favorable 
estimate  of  their  power  and  resources  than  our  subsequent  investi¬ 
gations  into  them  j  ustified.  The  Celestial  Grate  was  undoubtedly 
the  point  at  which  they  seemed  most  formidable,  and  it  will  prob¬ 
ably  be  the  last  strong-hold  which  will  remain  in  their  hands. 
Report  says  that  a  good  deal  of  their  treasure  is  kept  there. 

About  three  o’clock  in  the  afternoon  we  sighted  the  two  pago¬ 
das  which  mark  the  district  city  of  W oohoo,  and  soon  after  came 
to  an  anchor  before  its  long  white  walls.  Woohoo  is  the  highest 
point  ever  previously  reached  by  a  foreign  ship,  the  American 
steam-frigate  Susquehanna  having  visited  it  some  years  ago. 
Lord  Amherst’s  mission,  which  ascended  the  river  as  far  as  the 
Poyang  Lake,  were  conveyed  up  it  in  native  boats.  A  large  and 
motley  crowd  collected  on  the  water’s  edge  as  we  deliberately 
dropped  our  anchors  just  abreast  of  the  principal  gateway,  and 
Mr.  Wade  was  immediately  sent  on  shore  to  open  communication 
with  them,  the  chief  object  of  his  mission  being  to  obtain  supplies. 
Our  Chinese  official  was,  of  course,  invisible  on  these  occasions,  as 
an  imperialist  in  the  heart  of  the  rebel  country.  The  bare  notion 
that  his  presence  should  be  suspected  overwhelmed  him  with 
dismay. 

Mr.  Wade,  who  did  not  land,  returned  speedily  with  the  in¬ 
formation  which  he  had  obtained  from  a  Hoo-peh  man,  who  de¬ 
scribed  himself  as  an  officer  of  the  garrison,  that  the  authorities 
were  anxious  to  do  all  in  their  power  to  show  us  civility.  A 
packet  for  Lord  Elgin  from  How,  the  commandant  at  Woohoo, 
was  also  handed  to  him.  It  contained  the  original  manifesto  of 
Tai-ping-wang,  brought  down  from  Nankin  in  1853,  and  the  fol¬ 
lowing  letter:  “How,  a  Tsiang-tien-yen,  the  truly  loyal  and 
patriotic,  by  the  heavenly  command  of  the  heavenly  kingdom  of 
Tai-ping,  to  the  younger  brethren  of  Jesus.  Whereas,  owing  to 
the  heavenly  bounty  of  the  Heavenly  Father,  and  the  heavenly 
elder  brother  Jesus,  the  heavenly  dynasty  has  been  recently 
founded,  and  our  truly  Holy  Master,  the  Heavenly  King,  has 
been  desired  to  descend  on  earth,  and  govern  the  empire  (or  the 
world),  he  has  established  his  throne  in  the  heavenly  capital,  and 
for  several  years  (the  people  of)  the  four  seas  have  turned  their 

K  K 


514 


VISIT  TO  A  REBEL  CHIEF. 


hearts  to  him,  and  the  myriad  places  have  felt  his  civilizing  in¬ 
fluence.  Five  foreign  ships  belonging  to  you,  the  brethren  of 
Jesus,  have  now  come  to  the  central  kingdom  of  the  heavenly 
dynasty,  and  have  arrived  in  the  department  of  Ning  (Kiang- 
ning,  or  Nankin).  Being  in  ignorance  what  propositions  you 
have  to  make,  I  have  sent  a  special  messenger,  Yu-hing-lung,  to 
visit  your  ships  and  inquire.  If  you  have  any  thing  to  settle, 
please  inform  me  by  letter.  The  15th  of  the  10th  moon  of  the 
Wu-Wu,  or  8th  year  of  the  heavenly  kingdom  of  Tai-ping.” 

As  the  matter  we  had  to  settle  merely  related  to  beef  and  vege¬ 
tables,  Fitzroy  and  I  returned  to  the  shore  with  Wade,  accom¬ 
panied  by  Mr.  Mainprize,  the  paymaster  of  the  Furious.  Mean¬ 
while  Mr.  Lay  was  sent  in  a  gun-boat  to  communicate  with  some 
imperial  junks,  the  streamers  of  which  were  visible  about  three 
miles  higher  up  the  river. 

A  noisy  parti-colored  crowd,  jostling  each  other  into  the  water 
in  their  anxiety  to  inspect  us,  received  us  as  we  stepped  on  shore. 
We  were  surrounded  by  a  mob  of  these  long-haired,  long-robed 
ragamuffins  as  we  walked  into  the  fort  through  the  wretched 
gateway  which  served  as  its  principal  entrance,  and,  passing  along 
a  narrow,  half-ruined  street,  were  ushered  into  a  dilapidated  ya- 
mun  in  a  state  of  repair.  Strains  of  discordant  music  announced 
our  approach  to  the  high  dignitary  within,  whom  we  found  seated 
in  solemn  state  behind  a  high  table  or  altar,  upon  which  stood 
two  open  carved  jars  like  wine-coolers,  of  silver  or  imitation  sil¬ 
ver,  which  contained  long  thin  slips  of  wood  covered  with  Chi¬ 
nese  characters.  The  chamber  was  a  small,  square  apartment, 
hung  with  scrolls  of  yellow  silk,  covered  with  texts  and  mottoes 
in  Chinese,  belonging,  apparently,  as  much  to  Confucianism  as  to 
Christianity ;  and  the  presiding  genius  himself  was  a  stout,  sen¬ 
sual-looking  man,  with  a  keen  eye,  and  an  intelligent  but  bad  cast 
of  countenance.  He  was  dressed  in  a  robe  of  yellow,  which  fell 
from  his  neck  to  his  heels,  and  was  devoid  of  ornament ;  round 
his  head  was  wrapped  an  orange-colored  handkerchief,  in  the 
centre  of  which,  above  the  forehead,  was  fastened  a  single  piece 
of  jade,  mounted  in  a  gold  setting.  His  long  hair  was  collected 
in  a  bag,  and  hung  in  the  nape  of  his  neck,  as  though  in  imitation 
of  the  fashion  prevalent  among  English  young  ladies  of  the  pres¬ 
ent  day. 

Bowing  to  us  slightly  as  we  entered,  How — for  so  was  this 


A  DISORDERLY  MOB. 


515 


great  man  called — beckoned  ns  to  chairs,  the  mob  by  which  we 
had  been  followed  crowding  unceremoniously  into  the  small 
apartment.  Not  the  smallest  respect  was  shown  by  the  insubor¬ 
dinate  rabble  to  their  leader,  who  strove  in  vain  to  keep  them 
from  pressing  round,  much  to  the  disparagement  of  the  dignified 
manner  which  he  evidently  desired  to  maintain  in  our  presence, 
and  by  which  he  hoped  to  impress  us  with  a  due  sense  of  his 
rank  and  importance.  The  odor  of  garlic  which  pervaded  his 
undisciplined  retainers,  their  boisterous  and  noisy  manner  and 
filthy  aspect,  rendered  our  audience  by  no  means  so  agreeable  as 
it  might  otherwise  have  been.  A  perfect  equality  seemed  to 
reign,  or  rather  an  absolute  confusion  of  ranks  and  persons,  well 
dressed  and  ragged,  old  and  young,  thronged  impetuously  into 
the  little  room.  It  struck  me,  however,  that  the  young  predomi¬ 
nated  :  many  of  these  had  been  rebels  all  their  lives,  and  had  no 
tails,  but  generally  the  tail  was  wrapped  round  the  long  tangled 
hair. 

How  told  us  that  to  his  functions  of  commandant  and  judge  he 
united  those  of  high-priest.  The  thin  slips  of  wood  in  the  silver 
vases  were  inscribed  with  various  punishments,  and  the  form  of 
sentencing  consisted  in  his  selecting  and  throwing  to  the  criminal 
the  punishment  to  which  he  was  condemned.  The  building  itself 
was,  like  its  occupant,  partly  ecclesiastical  and  partly  secular. 
But  we  could  not  obtain  from  How  any  very  precise  description 
of  the  form  of  worship  at  which  he  presided.  Indeed,  we  were 
not  tempted  to  prolong  our  visit  beyond  what  was  necessary,  and 
we  gave  him  a  list  of  our  wants,  which  was  rapidly  transcribed 
by  his  secretary,  who  stood  near  him,  and  concealed  the  eyes  of  a 
countenance  which  bore  a  villainous  expression  with  a  pair  of 
huge  green  goggles.  His  dress  consisted  of  a  flowered  crimson 
silk  robe,  and  reached  to  his  heels.  Near  him  stood  another 
scribe,  in  a  bright  pea-green  tunic  and  loose  red  trowsers.  Pres¬ 
ently  appeared  another  high  official,  apparently  of  equal  rank 
with  How,  for  he  took  a  seat  next  to  him,  and  commenced  a  de¬ 
liberate  and  somewhat  insolent  survey  of  our  persons.  His  head 
was  wrapped  in  an  orange  handkerchief,  like  his  colleague’s,  but 
his  robe  was  of  purple,  above  which  he  wore  a  flowered  lilac  silk 
tunic.  These  gay  colors  looked  bright  enough  when  they  hap¬ 
pened  to  be  new,  but  those  of  the  crowd  were  for  the  most  part 
faded ;  the  material  of  which  their  garments  were  composed  was 


516 


AN  IMPERIALIST  SPY. 


shabby  and  torn,  giving  them  a  tawdry,  disreputable  appearance, 
which  was  not  belied  by  the  dissipated,  haggard  expression  of 
their  countenances. 

The  leaders  were  Canton  men  of  the  worst  description.  Drunk¬ 
enness  and  opium-smoking  were  prevalent  vices,  as  one  of  their 
number,  who  spoke  Canton  English,  and  was  evidently  a  black¬ 
guard  of  the  first  water,  unhesitatingly  admitted.  In  the  original 
code  promulgated  by  Tai-ping,  opium-smoking  was  punishable  by 
death.  One  of  the  first  questions  we  were  asked  by  How  was, 
“What  have  you  got  to  sell?”  They  were  evidently  skeptical 
when  we  denied  that  we  were  traders,  and  How  recurred  to  the 
subject  before  we  left  him.  He  had  been  a  merchant  in  a  small 
way  at  Canton. 

We  now  proceeded  to  the  exploration  of  the  surrounding  streets, 
and  found  that  we  were  not  in  the  town,  but  in  a  military  post, 
consisting  of  three  separate  forts  on  eminences,  with  a  collection 
of  mean  houses  round  them,  and  a  wall,  inclosing  the  whole  within 
its  circumference,  extending  for  some  distance  along  the  river 
margin. 

The  town  of  Woohoo  we  could  see  about  a  mile  and  a  half  in¬ 
land.  The  pagoda  was  outside  the  wall,  and  in  order  to  visit  it 
we  passed  under  a  gateway,  at  which  we  saw  a  man  chained  to 
the  wall  by  his  neck.  He  was  said  to  be  under  suspicion  of  be¬ 
ing  an  imperialist  spy.  The  pagoda  consisted  of  five  stories,  and 
was  very  dilapidated,  and  the  guns  on  the  walls  of  the  forts  were 
very  inferior  and  of  small  calibre. 

We  were  accompanied  on  our  rambles  by  a  crowd,  with  the 
more  intelligent  of  whom  W ade  got  into  conversation  upon  relig¬ 
ious  subjects ;  but  their  theology  was  of  the  vaguest  description, 
and  did  not  prevent  them  from  using  the  foulest  language  to  each 
other. 

We  saw  very  few  women,  and  they  were  evidently  all  from  the 
north,  probably  captured  on  some  of  their  raids  in  that  direction. 
It  was  said  that  an  order  had  been  issued  at  the  commencement 
of  the  movement  prohibiting  wives,  and  that  these  had,  in  conse¬ 
quence,  all  been  taken  from  their  husbands,  but  subsequently  re¬ 
distributed  differently. 

We  had  not  time  to  visit  the  town  of  Woohoo,  which  Davis 
describes  as  the  largest  of  its  class  in  China.  “  The  streets,”  he 
remarks,  “  proved,  on  inspection,  to  be  superior  to  those  of  many 


PRESENT  STATE  OF  WOOHOO. 


517 


of  the  first-class  cities,  and  some  were  as  large  and  well  furnished 
with  handsome  shops  as  at  Canton.  It  is  to  the  great  inland  com¬ 
merce  carried  on  by  this  line  that  such  unusual  wealth  and  pros¬ 
perity  is  to  be  referred.”  It  is  interesting  to  compare  the  above 
notice  of  Woohoo  with  that  of  Mr.  Wylie,  who  remained  behind 
with  the  Retribution,  while  we  were  up  the  river,  and  visited 
Woohoo,  of  which  he  gives  the  following  account: 

“The  district  city  of  Woohoo,  on  the  south  bank,  belongs  to 
Tai-ping-foo,  from  which  city  it  is  distant  fifty  miles  by  land,  with 
free  communication  for  the  insurgents,  who  have  held  it  since  the 
4th  of  March,  1853.  The  city  stands  inland  from  the  river  about 
a  mile  and  a  half,  on  the  border  of  a  canal,  but  little  is  now  left 
standing  of  it  except  the  wall,  and  a  part  of  the  two  principal 
streets,  extending  about  half  a  mile  each  inside  to  north  and  east 
gates,  and  nearly  as  far  outside.  These  contain  the  stores  of  the 
few  remaining  shopkeepers,  who  appear  to  be  ill  at  ease  in  the 
pursuit  of  their  avocations. 

“  The  houses  are  divided  among  the  various  companies  of  fight¬ 
ing  men  quartered  there,  most  of  them  having  up  a  placard  indi¬ 
cating  the  officer  to  whom  they  belong.  Many  of  the  houses  have 
very  extensive  premises  in  rear  of  the  shops,  where  the  men  and 
horses  find  shelter,  with  the  utmost  disregard  to  every  thing  like 
order  or  cleanliness. 

“  There  are  two  or  three  official  residences  in  the  city,  one  be¬ 
ing  that  of  the  medical  officer  to  the  army,  appointed  by  imperial 
commission.  Outside  the  west  gate,  nearly  up  to  the  river,  is  one 
vast  field  of  broken  bricks  and  tiles,  with  nothing  but  foundations 
remaining  to  show  what  must  once  have  been  a  very  extensive 
suburb.  A  walled  camp  has  been  built  along  the  river  front  by 
the  Tai-pings,  with  a  succession  of  six  forts  on  natural  mounds, 
the  approaches  to  which  are  defended  by  stockades,  and  the  rising- 
ground  thickly  studded  with  pitfalls.  Apart  from  the  command¬ 
ant,  How,  the  chief  officer,  who  has  his  yamun  in  the  camp,  is 
Hwang  Yuh  Ching,  23d,  (left  hand  or)  chief  minister  of  state. 

“Every  fort  has  its  general,  with  his  number  attached.  They 
have  changed  the  name  of  the  country  about  there  to  Ning-Keang. 
About  eight  or  ten  miles  to  the  south  they  have  a  camp,  at 
Hwang-che,  where  several  severe  skirmishes  have  taken  place 
lately.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  at  Urh-pa,  are  also  sev¬ 
eral  forts  which  have  been  taken  from  the  imperialists.” 


518 


A  TAI-PING  MANIFESTO. 


On  our  return  voyage  down  the  river  we  received  at  Woohoo 
a  communication  purporting  to  emanate  from  the  rebel  Celestial 
emperor  himself,  written  on  a  long  roll  of  yellow  silk,  in  red  char¬ 
acters,  being,  in  fact,  a  manifesto  addressed  to  foreigners  generally, 
but  endorsed  in  this  instance,  “For  the  jewel  glance  of  his  excel¬ 
lency,  the  Earl  Lai,  imperial  commissioner  of  Great  Britain.”  I 
annex  a  copy  of  this  very  singular  production,  which  will  convey 
a  better  idea  than  any  I  could  obtain  from  conversation  with  the 
rebels  of  the  nature  of  their  theology,  and  the  amount  of  their  ac¬ 
quaintance  with  Holy  Writ.  Of  the  extent  to  which  they  prac¬ 
ticed  its  tenets  it  was  not  so  difficult  to  form  an  opinion : 

Translation  of  a  Manifesto  or  Decree  addressed  by  the  Head  of  tiie 

Tai-ping  Insurgents  to  Foreigners. 

The  following  composition  was  left  at  Wu-hu  by  Lin,  a  rebel  chief  of  high  degree, 
who,  it  appears,  had  been  sent  thither  writh  it  from  Nankin,  and  was  found  at  the 
former  place  when  the  Retribution  moved  down  thither  from  Iiiu-hien.  It  is  writ¬ 
ten  on  yellow  silk,  in  red  characters — i.  e.,  with  the  vermilion  pencil  of  majesty,  and 
•was  inclosed  in  a  yellow  paper  envelope,  on  the  side  of  which  was  written, 

“Within  [the  cover]  is  presented  one  document” — the  word  presented  being  that 
which  indicates  the  submission  of  papers  or  information  to  a  superior;  then  the 
date — viz.,  the  —  day  of  the  11th  Moon  of  the  Wu-Wu,  the  8th  year  of  the  Celestial 
Kingdom  of  Tai-ping  (Universal  Peace). 

Over  the  date  are  two  impressions  of  seals ;  above,  a  circular  one  with  some  mystic 
engraving  not  very  clearly  defined,  with  the  character  pu,  universal,  in  the  margin, 
and  below,  an  oblong  one,  like  a  Chinese  title-page,  reading  as  follows:  “Chu 
Iliung-pang,  the  loyal  and  patriotic  Pu-T‘ien  Yen  of  the  Celestial  Kingdom  of  the 
Tai-ping,  appointed  to  the  Board  of  Works,  the  officer  of  the  Winter.” 

It  is  no  doubt  this  person  (who,  by  his  surname  Chu,  is  probably  one  of  those  that 
trace  descent  from  the  stock  of  the  Ming  Emperors),  who  employs  the  character  pin 
on  the  cover,  as  the  letter,  or  manifesto  itself  is  as  from  superiors  to  inferiors. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  cover  is  the  address,  which,  it  is  understood  was  written 
at  Wu-hu,  “  For  the  jewel  glance  of  his  excellency  the  Earl  Lai,  Imperial  Commis¬ 
sioner  of  Great  Britain.” 

The  writing  within  is  mostly  in  seven-foot  verse,  of  very  small  literary  pretension, 
and  in  indifferent  handwriting — singularly  indifferent  when  it  is  borne  in  mind  how 
generally  the  educated  Chinese  are  found  to  write  decently,  if  not  well.  Many  of 
the  expressions  establish  it,  in  the  opinion  of  a  well-informed  Cantonese,  to  be  the 
production  of  one  of  his  fellow-provincials. 

The  writer  uses  throughout  the  imperial  pronoun  chen  or  shen ,  which  we  ordinarily 
translate  we. 

The  column  is  broken,  according  to  Chinese  custom,  before  names  of  honor :  those 
that  refer,  apparently,  to  the  first  Person  of  the  Trinity  rising  two  places ;  those  in¬ 
dicating  the  second  Person,  one  place.  A  character  coined  to  represent  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  also  allowed  two  places.  It  occurs  but  once.  Tlien,  heaven,  is  raised  in 
some  lines  two  places,  and  is  in  such  cases  spelt  with  a  capital  letter  in  the  transla¬ 
tion. 


A  TAI-PING  MANIFESTO.  519 

1.  We  proclaim  for  the  information  of  our  foreign  younger  brethren  of  the  Western 
Ocean, 

2.  The  things  of  heaven  differ  extremely  from  the  things  of  the  world. 

3.  The  Heavenly  Father  Shang  Ti,  the  Imperial  Shang  Ti, 

4.  Is  the  sacred  (or  sainted)  Father  of  one  and  all  that  heaven  overspreads. 

5.  Our  uterine  elder  brother  is  Jesus. 

6.  Our  uterine  younger  brother  is  Siu-tsing. 

7.  In  the  third  moon  of  the  year  mo-sliin  (1848)  Shang  Ti  descended, 

8.  And  commissioned  the  King  of  the  East  to  become  a  mortal  (lit.,  a  world  man). 

0.  In  the  9th  moon  of  this  year  the  Redeemer  descended, 

10.  And  commissioned  the  King  of  the  West  to  manifest  divine  powers. 

11.  The  Father  and  the  Elder  Brother  led  us  to  sit  on  [the  throne  of]  the  heav¬ 
enly  kingdom ; 

12.  With  great  display  of  authority  and  might  to  sit  in  the  hall  of  heaven ; 

13.  To  make  the  heavenly  city  our  capital,  to  found  the  heavenly  kingdom  ; 

14.  [That]  the  ministers  and  people  of  all  (lit. ,  the  myriad)  nations  might  do  hom¬ 
age  to  their  Father-Emperor. 

15.  The  chapel  (or  temple)  of  the  True  Spirit  is  within  the  heavenly  court. 

16.  The  chapel  of  Ki-tu  (Christ)  is  alike  glorious  forever. 

17.  In  the  year  ting  yu  (1837)  we  ascended  to  heaven. 

18.  The  Father,  with  words  of  truth,  bestowed  on  us  a  volume  of  verse, 

19.  Enjoining  us  to  read  it  well  and  to  regard  it  as  a  proof : 

20.  By  the  verses  to  know  (or  acknowledge)  the  Father  and  to  keep  steady. 

21.  The  Father  moreover  commanded  the  Elder  Brother  to  instruct  us  how  to 
read  it. 

22.  The  Father  and  the  Elder  Brother  did  personally  instruct  us,  and  laid  their 
injunctions  upon  us  again  and  again. 

23.  The  Heavenly  Father  Shang  Ti  is  in  the  measure  of  his  capacity  as  the  depth 
of  the  sea. 

24.  Up  to  the  thirty-third  heaven  the  demons  burst  their  way. 

25.  The  Father  and  Elder  Brother,  taking  us  with  them,  drove  them  away  time 
after  time. 

26.  Supported  by  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  heaven  on  either  side  of  them, 

27.  They  smote  on  this  occasion  two  thirds  of  them ; 

28.  From  one  gate  of  heaven  after  another  were  the  demons  and  goblins  repulsed, 

29.  Until  they  were  all  driven  down  below  (or  to  earth,  or  under  the  earth), 

30.  And  but  a  remnant  of  them  were  left.  [Thus]  was  the  august  Father  (or  the 
Father’s  majesty)  made  manifest. 

31.  The  Father  subsequently  (or,  then)  desired  us  to  return  to  the  world,  [promis¬ 
ing] 

32.  In  all  things  to  be  our  support. 

33.  He  enjoined  us  to  set  our  heart  at  rest  and  not  to  be  alarmed ; 

34.  He,  the  Father,  would  come  forward.  His  injunctions  were  repeated  twice 
and  again. 

35.  In  the  year  ivu-shin  (1848),  when  the  King  of  the  South  was  besieged  in 
Kwei-ping, 

36.  We  besought  the  Father  to  come  down  and  manifest  his  terrors. 

37.  We  had  returned  from  Ivwang  Si  to  Kwang  Tung ; 

38.  The  Heavenly  Father  did  come  down  to  the  world,  and  rescued  [the  King] 
of  the  South. 


520  A  TAI-PING  MANIFESTO. 

39.  The  King  of  the  East  redeems  from  sickness;  he  is  a  holy  spirit. 

40.  The  Father  sent  him  down  with  a  commission  to  exterminate  the  demons. 

41.  He  destroyed  goblin-devils  -without  number, 

42.  And  so  was  enabled  to  arrive  without  delay  at  the  capital  (Nankin). 

43.  When  the  Father  descended  to  the  world  he  made  known  his  holy  will. 

44.  All  this  we  read,  and  committing  it  well  to  memory, 

45.  We  knew  the  Father’s  infallibility  (or  that  his  power  could  not  fail), 

46.  And  were  brought  by  the  Father  and  the  Elder  Brother  to  found  the  [dynasty 
of]  T‘ai  Ping. 

47.  The  Father  having  deputed  the  King  of  the  East  to  redeem  from  sickness, 

48.  [On  behalf  of]  the  blind,  the  deaf,  and  the  dumb, 

49.  He  suffered  infinite  misery. 

50.  When  fighting  the  demons  he  was  wounded  in  the  neck  and  fell  headlong. 

51.  The  Father  had  declared  by  his  holy  decree, 

52.  That  when  our  warriors  went  forth  they  would  have  inexpressible  affliction ; 

53.  That  when  they  come  to  the  court  (Nankin  ?)  they  would  suffer  severely. 

54.  [The  words  of]  the  Father’s  holy  decree  were  all  accomplished. 

55.  The  Elder  Brother  to  ransom  sinners  gave  his  life  ; 

56.  He  became  a  substitute  for  myriad  myriad  thousands  of  the  people  of  the 
world. 

57.  The  King  of  the  East,  in  ransoming  the  sick,  suffered  equally  with  the  Elder 
Brother, 

58.  And  when  he  fell  with  the  pestilence  he  returned  to  [the  place  of]  spirits,  to 
thank  the  Father  for  his  goodness. 

59.  Which  is  the  right  among  the  writings  of  the  Father  and  the  Elder  Brother  it 
is  impossible  to  know ; 

60.  He  who  would  choose  the  true  must  ascend  to  high  heaven. 

61.  The  holy  decrees  of  the  Father  are  numberless. 

62.  We  declare  the  general  purport  of  one  or  two. 

63.  It  is  some  years  since  the  Heavenly  Father  descended  into  the  world. 

64.  He  was  accompanied  by  the  Heavenly  Brother,  whose  distress  was  as  great  as 
formerly. 

65.  Jesus  is  your  Redeeming  Lord, 

66.  And  continues  with  all  his  mind  to  instruct  and  admonish. 

67.  The  Heavenly  Father  produced  T‘siuen  to  be  your  ruler. 

68.  Why  are  ydu  not  loyal  to  the  utmost?  why  do  you  willfully  (or  wrongly)  pur¬ 
sue  your  former  course  ? 

69.  You  have  often  [been  guilty  of]  serious  disobedience  of  commands. 

70.  Were  we  not  to  issue  our  decrees  your  boldness  would  be  great  as  heaven. 

71.  For  whom  was  it  that  the  Heavenly  Father  descended  ? 

72.  For  whom  did  Jesus  throw  away  his  life? 

73.  Heaven  has  sent  you  down  a  king  to  be  your  true  lord. 

74.  Why  are  you  so  troubled,  your  hearts  so  unsettled? 

75.  Let  your  sons  in  all  parts  quit  their  houses, 

76.  Leave  their  homes,  resolved  to  be  loyal  ministers; 

77.  Come  forward  to  aid  their  king,  fierce  as  tigers  and  leopards; 

78.  Knowing  that  now  they  have  a  ruler  they  can  be  men. 

79.  If  you  believe  not  that  the  best  in  the  world  has  appeared  in  us, 

80.  Yet  bethink  you  that  the  Spirit  Father  errs  not  in  the  ruler  he  establishes  (lit., 
sets  up  a  ruler  true). 


A  TAI-PING  MANIFESTO. 


521 


81.  Accept  as  proof  of  the  independent  authority  of  heaven, 

82.  That  though  a  thousand  surround  [us]  with  valor  and  daring,  they  are  broken 
as  the  dust. 

83.  The  myriad  countries,  the  myriad  nations,  throng  in  myriads  to  [our]  court. 

84.  [Ours  are  ?]  the  myriad  hills,  the  myriad  waters,  at  infinite  distance.- 

85.  For  a  myriad  li  myriad  eyes  throng  their  way  up. 

86.  All  (lit.,  myriad)  knowledge,  all  happiness,  all  merit  [is  ours?  or,  heaven’s?] 

87.  Would  [a  man]  conceal  any  thing  from  Heaven,  let  him  not  say  that  Heaven 
is  ignorant  of  it. 

88.  Heaven  measures  as  far  as  the  sea  in  deep ;  yea,  and  farther. 

89.  See  now  yourselves  without  courage  or  resolution. 

90.  How  long  will  you  not  be  faithful  servants  ? 

91.  Remember  that  if  in  the  third  watch  [of  the  night]  you  escape  along  the  dark 
road, 

92.  The  vengeful  demon  will  blind  (or  bewilder)  you  before  daylight. 

93.  Walk  each  of  you,  in  the  true  path  for  our  king ; 

94.  Believe  the  Heavenly  Father,  and  doubt  not. 

95.  Heaven  produced  the  rightful  ruler  to  govern  the  empire  (lit.,  the  hills  and 
streams) . 

The  verses  end  here  for  the  present ;  the  writer  proceeds  in  prose  thus: 

When  Shang  Ti  sent  down  his  holy  decree  (lit.,  this  single  sentence  of  a  holy  de¬ 
cree),  he  commanded  us  to  add  three  sentences.  We  added  [these] : 

96.  The  Heavenly  Father,  and  the  Heavenly  Elder  Brother  have  great  distress  of 
mind  (have  too  much  to  think  of) ; 

97.  All  authority  and  power  reverts  to  the  Supreme  Ruler  ( Shang  Chu ). 

98.  How  is  happiness  to  be  given  to  the  whole  empire  of  Tai-ping  ? 

Shang  Ti  sent  down  another  holy  decree,  saying, 

99.  In  the  nine-fold  heaven  let  there  be  one  King  of  the  East, 

100.  To  aid  the  empire  as  a  counselor  long  to  endure. 

When  Shang  Ti  declared  his  holy  pleasure  in  these  two  lines,  he  desired  us  to  add 
two  more.  In  accordance  with  the  holy  pleasure  of  the  Father,  we  added  these  two : 

101.  Ilo-nai  the  teacher,  who  is  at  the  same  time  the  lord  redeemer  from  disease, 

102.  Is  the  great  support  of  all  the  people  in  the  world. 

At  a  later  period  Shang  Ti  made  a  change,  saying, 

103.  Let  there  be  appointed  a  pair  of  phoenixes,  one  to  the  east  and  the  other  to 
the  west. 

104.  Let  the  east,  west,  north,  and  south  do  homage  to  them  (turn  to  them  as  the 
sun). 

Shang  Ti  made  another  change,  saying, 

105.  Let  there  be  appointed  a  pair  of  phoenixes,  one  to  the  east  and  the  other  to 
the  west, 

106.  And  let  them,  in  gratitude  for  the  bounty  of  Heaven  that  has  descended  on 
them,  do  homage  together. 

107.  This  purport  of  the  Father’s  holy  pleasure,  in  general  terms, 

108.  Do  we  truthfully  declare  for  the  information  of  you,  our  foreign  younger 
brethren. 

109.  That  the  Heavenly  Father  and  the  Heavenly  Elder  Brother  really  descend¬ 
ed  on  earth, 

110.  Is  proved  to  be  true  by  the  verses  of  the  Father. 


522 


A  TAI-PING  MANIFESTO. 


111.  Their  (or  His)  divine  intelligence  and  authority  words  can  not  tell. 

112.  Come  soon  to  the  heavenly  temple,  and  you  will  be  sensible  of  it. 

113.  The  Chief  Elder  Brother  Jesus  is  the  same  (or  of  the  same  fashion)  with  the 
Father. 

114.  Not  a  half  sentence  of  [their]  holy  decrees  shall  be  changed. 

115.  Shang  Ti,  the  Heavenly  Father,  is  the  true  Shang  Ti  (or  is  Shang  Ti,  the 
Supreme  Ruler,  indeed). 

116.  Jesus,  the  Heavenly  Elder  Brother,  is  Heavenly  Elder  Brother  indeed. 

117.  The  Father  and  the  Elder  Brother  set  us  to  rule  the  heavenly  kingdom; 

118.  To  sweep  away  and  exterminate  the  devilish  spirits;  bestowing  on  us  great 
honor. 

119.  Foreign  younger  brethren  of  the  Western  Ocean,  listen  to  our  words. 

120.  Join  us  in  doing  service  to  the  Father  and  Elder  Brother,  and  extinguish  the 
stinking  reptiles. 

121.  In  all  things  the  Father,  the  Elder  Brother,  and  ourself  are  master  (or,  act 
independently  of  any  one  else). 

122.  Come,  brethren,  enthusiastically,  and  merit  all  honor. 

123.  When  we  were  traveling  in  Kwang-tung  some  time  ago, 

124.  In  the  hall  of  worship  (li  pai-t'^ang')  we  addressed  Lo  Hiau-tsiuen. 

125.  We  then  told  him  that  we  had  been  up  to  heaven, 

126.  And  that  the  Heavenly  Father  and  the  Heavenly  Elder  Brother  had  com¬ 
mitted  to  us  great  authority. 

127.  Is  Lo  Hiau-tsiuen  now  come  hither  or  not? 

128.  If  he  be,  let  him  come  to  court  and  speak  with  us. 

129.  We  are  the  second  son  of  Shang  Ti. 

130.  The  Elder  Brother  and  the  King  of  the  East  are  our  uterine  brothers. 

131.  All  as  one  family  together  adorning  the  Heavenly  Father, 

132.  There  shall  be  universal  peace  (tlai pLing)  on  earth.  It  was  said  long  ago, 
[0  r  it  may  mean].  We  form  one  family  [above]  under  the  Heavenly  Father;  on 

earth  we  are  [the  dynasty]  T‘ai  P‘ing,  as  we  said  long  ago  (or,  as  was  long  ago  fore¬ 
told). 

133.  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  (or  was)  at  hand ;  now  that  it  is  come, 

134.  Brethren  of  the  Western  Ocean,  be  of  good  cheer. 

135.  In  former  days,  when  we  ascended  to  heaven,  we  saw  what  was  destined  by 
the  Father, 

136.  [To  wit,  that]  the  myriad  nations  should  aid  us  to  mount  the  heavenly  tower. 

137.  What  the  Father  destined  has  now  come  to  pass. 

138.  Put  forth  your  strength  for  Heaven ;  it  is  a  duty,  yes,  it  is  a  duty. 

139.  For  the  Father,  and  for  the  Elder  Brother,  slay  the  demon  goblins, 

140.  Out  of  gratitude  to  the  Father  for  your  birth  and  growth ;  and  when  you 
have  conquered  in  battle,  return  (or,  and  you  will  be  victorious  in  fight). 

141.  We,  the  ruler,  have  given  the  young  ruler,  [our  son],  to  be  adopted  by  Jesus ; 

142.  As  the  adopted  of  the  Elder  Brother  and  ourself  to  sit  in  the  heavenly 
capital, 

143.  The  young  ruler,  as  one  half  the  son  of  Jesus, 

144.  And  one  half  our  son,  is  the  object  (or  recipient)  of  the  protection  of  Heaven. 

145.  [Thus]  for  generations  the  young  ruler,  as  the  son  of  Shang  Ti, 

146.  Inherits  from  the  Elder  Brother  and  ourself  the  whole  empire. 

147.  Brethren  of  the  Western  Ocean,  adore  (or,  you  adore)  the  Supreme  ( Shang 


A  TAI-PING  MANIFESTO. 


523 


148.  It  is  our  wish  that  the  Father  and  the  Elder  Brother  should  cause  it  so  to  be. 

149.  The  Chief  Elder  Brother  being  in  time  past  nailed  on  a  gallows  shaped  like 
the  character  shili ,  ten,  sc.  the  cross, 

150.  Left  it  as  his  sign.  In  this  there  is  no  mistake. 

151.  The  sliih  tsHuen  ta  Jcih,  the  tenfold  [that  is,  all]  perfect,  and  all  fortunate  is 
ourself. 

152.  In  all  ways  [our  course]  is  that  destined  by  the  Father. 

153.  That  the  Chief  Elder  Brother  came  to  life  again  in  three  days, 

154.  And  in  three  days  built  the  temple,  is  not  a  vain  boast. 

155.  We  were  produced  |?y  the  Father  in  three  days; 

156.  We  built  the  temple  of  the  Father  and  Elder  Brother,  and  destroyed  the 
devilish  serpents. 

157.  In  our  third  year  hwci-ckau  (1853)  we  beheaded  the  devilish  serpents. 

158.  In  the  year  yih  yung  (1855)  we  exterminated  the  brutes,  by  the  aid  of  the 
Father  and  the  Elder  Brother. 

159.  The  serpents  and  brutes  humbled  and  all  exterminated  forever, 

160.  The  whole  world  together  sings  the  song  of  peace  (or,  the  song  of  tlaipling). 

161.  Foreign  brethren  of  the  Western  Ocean,  you  adore  Shang  Ti ;  [and  it  is] 

162.  The  Father  and  Elder  Brother  that  have  brought  us  to  sit  on  the  throne  of 
the  empire  (the  hills  and  streams). 

163.  We  have  now  declared  to  you  the  truth. 

164.  Come  rejoicing  to  court,  and  give  thanks  to  the  Father  and  the  Elder  Brother. 

165.  By  the  memorials  of  our  ministers 

166.  We  have  been  informed  of  the  coming  of  the  brethren  to  the  heavenly  capital. 

167.  We  have  desired  our  ministers  to  treat  you  with  courtesy. 

168.  As  brethren  in  one  harmonious  community,  be  not  doubtful  or  suspicious. 

169.  Apprehensive  that  the  brethren  might  not  be  aware  of  [our  sentiments], 

170.  We  have  issued  our  manifesto  to  show  our  sympathy  with  you. 

171.  Foreign  brethren  of  the  Western  Ocean,  worship  Shang  Ti. 

172.  Man’s  blessings,  lit.,  bounty  and  peace,  are  in  this. 

Respect  this  ! 

[/«  referring  to  the  following  notes  the  reader  will  he  guided  by  the  number  of  the 

verse. ] 

(1.)  Proclaim;  the  word  signifies  to  address  authoritatively  as  a  sovereign.  . 

(3.)  Shang  Ti,  the  most  honorable  among  Chinese  spirits ;  the  title  adopted  by  many  Protestant 
missionaries  to  translate  the  name  of  God. 

(C.)  Siu-tsing  is  Yang  Siu-tsing,  the  Eastern  King,  who  arrogated  to  himself  among  other  titles 
that  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

(10.)  Or,  traces  of  divinity. 

(11.)  Ye ,  the  Father,  and  Ko,  the  Elder  Brother,  as  the  characters  are  understood  to  mean  by  the 
native  assistant  consulted,  as  a  missionary  suggests,  may  be  but  the  adoption  in  ignorance  of  the 
Chinese  characters  employed  to  spell  Jehovah. 

(12.)  To  be  the  high-priest? 

(13.)  Nan-king,  the  southern  capital,  is  now,  to  the  insurgents,  the  tien-king ,  heavenly  capital. 
(15.)  The  hall  of  the  True  Spirit,  chin-shin-tang,  is  the  title  formerly  taken  by  a  Protestant  mis, 
sionary  chapel  at  Hong  Kong,  but  subsequently  abandoned. 

(16.)  Ki-tu  are  the  characters  intended  to  represent  the  word  Christ  in  the  translation  of  the  Test¬ 
ament. 

(18.)  Or,  did  indeed :  the  expression  is  Cantonese. 

(20.)  Keep  steady,  be  saved  from  upsetting,  not  the  dynasty,  but  the  man  in  his  conduct;  also  a 
Canton  phrase. 

(24.)  The  thirty-third  heaven  belongs  to  fairy  tales,  and  the  like. 

(31.)  Again  to  descend  among  the  [mortal]  community. 


524 


A  TAI-PING  MANIFESTO. 


(35).  Kwei-ping  is  a  district  in  Kwang  Si. 

(43.)  Holy  will,  the  words  often  rendered  Decree  of  this  Sacred  Majesty,  the  Placet  of  the  Holy 
One. 

(58.)  Pestilence:  the  word  is  often  used  of  rebellion.  It  may  have  this  figurative  sense  here,  in 
which  case  Yang  must  be  understood  to  have  fallen  in  action.  He  is  believed  to  have  been  behead¬ 
ed  by  Tai-ping  Wang’s  orders. 

(5S.)  Or,  returned  to  his  spirit-nature. 

(59.)  The  word  rendered  writings  is  tsldn,  plants  or  grass.  Draughts  of  documents  are  in  the  run¬ 
ning  land  ts'du  tsz\  the  grass  character.  That  the  translation  is  correct  here  is  uncertain,  but  no 
more  likely  meaning  has  been  suggested. 

(67.)  Ts4uhn  is  Hung  Siu-ts4uen,  Tai-ping  Wang,  the  leader  of  the  present  insurrection, 

(OS.)  Wantonly  or  extravagantly  renew  or  repair  the  past. 

(78.)  Men  not  devils. 

(79.)  L?7.,  the  most  precious  [of  the  productions]  of  the  hills  and  streams. 

(SO.)  The  Spirit  is  a  newly-coined  character  not  in  the  Lexicons. 

(81.)  The  text  is  obscure;  it  may  mean,  Relying  on  the  power  of  heaven  to  play  the  chief. 

(S3.)  There  is  apparently  here  an  allusion  to  omnipotence  and  infinity,  but  whether  as  the  attribute 
of  Tai-ping  himself,  or  the  Supreme  Being,  is  not  quite  clear. 

(92.)  A  proverb  much  to  the  same  effect  as  our  commonplace  Pmto  antecedentem  scelestum ,  etc. 


(101.)  The  characters 


ho  and 


Ma?',  together  make 


sill. 


Yang  Siu-tsiuen  is  here 


referred  to  as  the  great  physician. 

(102.)  The  word :  a  character  is  used  here  also  which  is  not  authorized,  for  all  together. 

(103.)  The  fung  is  the  fabulous  bird  of  China. 

(104.)  The  change,  as  will  be  seen,  is  of  the  greater  part  of  the  104th  verse,  of  which  the  106th  is  a 
revision. 

(113.)  The  title  Elder  Brother  preceding  his  name  Yesu  is,  nevertheless,  made  one  degree  less  hon¬ 
orable  by  its  place  in  the  column. 

(119.)  As  before,  Our  words  as  sovereign. 

(122.)  Lit.,  Establish  myriad-fold  merit. 

(124.)  Lo,  supposed  to  be  the  Rev.  Issachar  Roberts,  from  whom  Hung  Siu-ts4uen  is  believed  to  have 
obtained  his  first  idea  of  Christianity. 

(149).  Ten,  shih  is  also  the  number  of  completeness  in  China;  ten  parts  is  ten  tenths,  all. 

(151.)  There  is  a  play  here  on  shih,  ten,  the  crucifix-shaped  character  meaning  also  complete,  and 
ts'-iuen ,  perfect,  which  also  is  part  of  Hung’s  name.  The  expression  is  common  Cantonese ;  out-and- 
out  good  fortune. 

(156.)  Although  the  construction  does  not  grammatically  warrant  it,  the  intention  of  the  writer  is 
plainly  that  his  building  the  temple  and  routing  the  demons  were  also  three-day  operations. 

(157.)  The  two  last  dates  have  retained  one  character  of  the  old  Chinese  cyclic  system,  and  have 
altered  one. 


A  BATTLE  BETWEEN  REBELS  AND  IMPERIALISTS.  525 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

A  Battle  between  Rebels  and  Imperialists.—^An  Exodus  of  the  Population. — Arrival 
at  Kew-hsien. — The  Rebel  Position. — Rebel  Tactics. — Deserted  State  of  the  Coun¬ 
try. —  Tee-kiang.  —  Fine  Scenery.  —  Recent  Rebel  Fortifications.  —  A  wild-boar 
Hunt. — Description  of  the  Country. — Our  Pilot. — Cultivation. — Mandarin  Visit¬ 
ors. — Character  of  the  River-banks. — The  Imperialist  Fleet. — A  Visit  to  the  Com¬ 
modore. — The  Legend  of  the  Hen  Barrier. — Approach  to  Ngan-king. — We  en¬ 
gage  the  Forts. — Attack  of  the  Imperialist  Troops. — The  eight-storied  Pagoda. — 
Tactics  of  the  Imperialists. — Their  Treatment  of  the  Peasantry. — Toong-lew. 

October  24.  We  weighed  at  daylight  this  morning,  and  about 
three  miles  above  Woohoo  passed  a  fleet  of  twenty  imperialist 
junks,  at  a  village  called  Loo-kiang.  They  were  under  command 
of  a  Canton  man  named  Woo,  with  whom  Mr.  Lay  made  ac¬ 
quaintance  last  evening,  and  who  has  politely  furnished  us  with 
a  pilot  upon  whom  he  declares  we  may  rely.  Eight  or  ten  miles 
above  this  we  passed  a  creek,  at  the  mouth  of  which  two  imperial 
junks  were  stationed.  Three  or  four  miles  up  this  creek  the  in¬ 
surgents  have  a  camp  at  the  town  of  Hwang-san-keaou,  where 
they  number  upward  of  a  thousand  fighting  men.  When  we 
passed,  the  whole  of  this  army,  which  had  evidently  been  strongly 
re-enforced,  was  hotly  engaged  with  the  imperial  troops. 

It  is  impossible  to  conceive  any  thing  more  highly  picturesque, 
or  theatrical  in  its  effect,  than  the  scene  which  now  lay  spread  be¬ 
fore  us.  The  hills  were  crowned  with  the  gay  flags  of  the  rebels ; 
the  rich  autumnal  tints  upon  the  trees  were  as  bright  in  their 
colors  as  the  dresses  of  the  soldiers  grouped  beneath  them;  bodies 
of  men  were  marching  in  gallant  array  down  the  park-like  slopes, 
to  meet  the  foe  in  the  plain  beneath.  The  imperialist  position 
was  upon  the  flat  ground  upon  the  river  margin.  Here  they  had 
erected  straw  screens  and  temporary  earth-works,  behind  which  a 
few  small  guns  were  placed,  which  were  keeping  up  an  apparent¬ 
ly  harmless  fire  upon  the  enemy.  How  and  then  groups  of  men 
carrying  gingalls  would  advance  from  the  hostile  ranks,  and  ap¬ 
proach  to  within  two  or  three  hundred  yards  of  each  other,  fire 
their  gingalls,  and  retire  amid  a  great  waving  of  banners.  We 
could  not  wait  to  watch  the  issue  of  the  battle,  which  might  last 
forever,  if  they  continued  to  fight  on  the  same  principle. 


526 


THE  REBEL  POSITION. 


As  we  advanced  we  became  still  more  enchanted  with  the 
scenery.  Confused  masses  of  wooded  hills  rose  to  a  height  of 
about  two  thousand  feet,  from  a  plain  charmingly  diversified  by 
clumps  of  timber  and  rich  cultivation.  It  was  lamentable  to  ob¬ 
serve  that  this  lovely  landscape  was  being  deserted  by  its  inhab¬ 
itants.  It  had  not  before  been  visited  by  the  pestilent  hordes  who 
were  now  bearing  down  upon  it ;  and  the  peasantry,  fearful  lest 
they  should  prove  successful  in  the  contest  which  we  had  just 
seen  them  waging  with  the  imperialists,  were  now  hurrying  away, 
to  escape  those  scenes  of  rapine  and  violence  which  have  invaria¬ 
bly  marked  their  devastating  track.  Whole  families  might  thus 
be  seen  trudging  along  the  narrow  pathways,  the  men  staggering 
under  heavy  loads  of  all  their  goods  and  chattels,  the  women 
hobbling  along  on  their  small  feet,  their  arms  filled  with  babies. 
Cattle  and  poultry  were  being  driven  or  carried  by  boys  and 
girls.  A  great  exodus  was  in  progress.  A  few  faint  wreaths  of 
blue  smoke  were  still  curling,  probably  for  the  last  time,  from  the 
cottages  and  hamlets  dotted  over  the  smiling  landscape,  destined 
before  long  to  share  the  fate  which  had  already  overtaken  the  sur¬ 
rounding  country,  where  heaps  of  blackened  cinders  and  mounds 
of  brickbats  alone  remained  to  attest  its  once  populous  character. 

“Sunk  are  thy  bowers,  in  shapeless  ruin  all, 

And  the  long  grass  o’ertops  the  mouldering  wall, 

And,  trembling,  shrinking  from  the  spoiler’s  hand, 

Far,  far  away  thy  children  leave  the  land.” 

The  principal  base  of  rebel  operations,  and  the  head-quarters 
of  their  army,  was  a  town  called  Fan-chang,  some  twelve  or  four¬ 
teen  miles  in  rear  of  the  range  of  hills  which  skirted  the  south 
bank  of  the  river.  To  these  hills,  which  are  a  debatable  ground, 
separating  the  insurgents  from  the  imperialists,  the  latter  proba¬ 
bly  owe  their  position,  as,  with  the  command  of  the  river,  they 
are  always  able  to  keep  up  their  communication.  Their  princi¬ 
pal  post  upon  its  banks  is  Kew-hsien,  a  town  we  reached  at  11 
A.M.  It  was  picturesquely  situated  under  the  hills.  The  peo¬ 
ple  crowded  to  the  shore  to  inspect  us.  They  consisted  largely 
of  refugee  peasantry.  As  we  were  not  likely  to  reach  another 
imperialist  town  for  some  time,  and  the  great  draught  of  water  of 
the  Retribution  rendered  her  an  inconvenient  ship  with  which  to 
pioneer  unknown  waters,  it  was  decided  that  she  should  remain 
here  until  our  return  from  Hankow. 


REBEL  TACTICS. 


527 


This  arrangement  afforded  the  officers  a  good  opportunity  of 
exploring  the  surrounding  country  in  search  of  game,  while  Mr. 
Wylie  was  enabled  to  obtain  some  interesting  information  with 
reference  to  the  state  of  the  rebels.  We  found,  on  our  return, 
that  a  red  deer,  and  upward  of  sixty  pheasants,  had  fallen  to  the 
guns  of  the  sportsmen,  while  the  following  account  was  furnished 
to  Lord  Elgin  by  Mr. Wylie  as  the  result  of  his  observation: 
“  Kew-heen”  (or  hsien,  as  I  have  spelt  it,  as  a  distinct  sibilation 
was  discernible  in  its  pronunciation)  “  was  formerly  the  site  of  the 
district  city  of  Fan-chang,  which  now  stands  fourteen  miles  in¬ 
land,  in  a  plain  surrounded  by  high  hills.  This  city,  which  has 
been  in  the  possession  of  the  rebels  for  five  years,  belongs  to  the 
prefecture  of  Tai-ping.  The  present  rebel  governor  is  surnamed 
‘Wei.’ 

“  Kew-heen  has  some  few  vestiges  of  its  former  importance,  but 
the  place  is  now  half  in  ruins,  from  previous  visits  of  the  insurgents. 
A  little  busy  retail  traffic  is  carried  on,  chiefly  dependent  on  the  im¬ 
perial  troops  stationed  there.  These  amount  to  from  two  to  three 
thousand,  under  the  command  of  a  general  named  Le.  This  man 
was  the  commander  of  the  besieging  force  at  Kiu-kiang  in  May, 
1853,  when  three  European  ships  and  twenty -five  lorchas  were  en¬ 
gaged  in  the  service.  He  has  now  under  him  companies  of  Kwang- 
tung,  Che-kiang,  and  Shan-tung  braves.  About  a  dozen  junks  or¬ 
dinarily  lie  there,  and  some  ten  gun-boats.  This  place  forms  a 
centre  of  concourse  for  the  peasantry  from  the  surrounding  coun¬ 
try,  who  are  driven  from  their  homes  by  the  incursions  of  the 
rebels.  Many  families,  with  their  whole  households,  are  in  a  con¬ 
tinual  state  of  migration,  carrying  bedding  and  utensils  about 
wherever  they  go.  These  are  not  beggars,  but  refugees,  who  are 
glad  to  purchase  personal  safety  by  the  temporary  abandonment 
of  their  patrimonial  dwellings.  A  great  extent  of  country  adjoin¬ 
ing  the  insurgent  territory  has  thus  become  depopulated,  and  hos¬ 
tile  encounters  between  the  peasantry  who  remain,  and  the  rebel 
invaders,  are  no  uncommon  occurrence.  It  is  customary  with  the 
latter  to  make  their  advances  by  early  dawn ;  and  when  they 
find  the  peasantry  unwilling  to  enter  their  service,  collisions  some¬ 
times  ensue,  which  terminate  in  the  death  or  disablement  of  the 
latter.  In  such  cases  the  dwellings  are  reduced  to  a  ruin,  and 
thus  for  many  miles  round  scarcely  any  thing  is  to  be  found  but 
bare  mud  walls.  The  natives  who  thus  involuntarily  enter  their 


528 


DESERTED  STATE  OF  THE  COUNTRY. 


service  are  not  allowed  tire  same  freedom  as  the  old  adherents 
from  the  south  ;  and  on  occasion  of  affrays  with  the  imperialists, 
it  is  said  they  are  placed  in  the  front  ranks,  and  fastened  together 
by  the  tails.  The  imperialist  communication  landward  between 
Kew-heen  and  Loo-keang  is  cut  off  by  the  rebels,  but  they  have 
an  open  thoroughfare  for  their  vessels  on  the  river.  The  channel 
of  the  Yang-tse  is  here  divided  by  three  large  islands  in  the  cen¬ 
tre,  two  or  three  miles  wide. 

11  The  north  bank  is  all  held  by  the  insurgents,  who  have  also 
the  departmental  city  of  Woo-wei,  the  imperialist  magistrate  of 
which,  Yeh,  now  has  a  temporary  office  in  Kew-heen.  There  is 
also  a  rebel  encampment  on  the  north  bank,  opposite  Hik-cka- 
chow,  the  island  facing  Kew-heen.” 

Mr.  Wylie  informed  me  that  he  had  walked  to  Fan-chang 
through  a  hilly  wooded  country,  but  did  not  enter  the  town.  All 
the  hamlets  and  houses  for  the  last  six  miles  before  reaching  it 
were  in  ruins.  From  the  accounts  he  gave  of  their  proceedings, 
we  can  not  wonder  at  the  absence  of  all  sympathy  with  the  reb¬ 
els  on  the  part  of  the  peasantry.  Not  only  do  they  harry  and 
squeeze  these  unfortunate  people,  but  press  the  men  by  violence 
into  their  service,  retaining  for  themselves  all  the  best-looking  of 
their  women. 

Kew-ksien,  as  its  name  implies,  was  formerly  the  district  city, 
and  its  decaying  pagoda  and  ruined  temple  do  indeed  impart  to  it 
an  air  of  venerable,  if  not  respectable  antiquity.  I  can  not  say 
respectable,  because  the  moral  character  of  Kew-ksien  is,  so  to 
speak,  under  a  cloud.  In  consequence  of  a  horrible  crime  hav¬ 
ing  been  committed  there  during  the  Ming  dynasty,  it  was  blot¬ 
ted  out  from  the  list  of  names  in  the  government  maps,  and  Fang- 
chang  was  made  the  district  city :  this  disreputable  locality  thus 
became  simply  Kew-ksien,  or  “  the  town  that  was.” 

We  exchanged  our  pilot  here  for  a  more  brilliant-looking  indi¬ 
vidual,  and,  with  three  parting  cheers  to  the  Retribution,  held  on 
our  course  up  the  unknown  waters  of  the  Ta-kiang. 

A  little  above  Kew-ksien  a  large  branch  of  the  river  communi¬ 
cates  with  Lake  Ckaou-koo,  an  extensive  sheet  of  water.  On  the 
south  we  are  struck  by  the  romantic  beauty  of  the  Pan-tze-chee 
rock,  which  rises  in  a  sheer  mass  from  the  eddying  stream,  and  is 
surmounted  by  the  gray,  mossy  ruins  of  a  temple  and  pagoda, 
embowered  among  trees  of  many  hues. 


TEE-KIANG.—  FINE  SCENERY. 


529 


The  hills  rise  from  the  water’s  edge  in  grassy  slopes,  partially 
wooded  to  a  height  of  from  two  to  three  thousand  feet,  while  love¬ 
ly  valleys,  richly  timbered,  open  them  up  in  a  southerly  direction. 
The  range  is  called  Ta-hwa-shan.  It  trends  away  to  the  south 
and  east  at  the  village  of  Tee-kiang,  which,  with  its  three-arched 
bridge  of  heavy  masonry,  and  its  white  but  partially  ruined 
'houses,  clustering  up  the  hill  side,  or  nestling  among  the  trees  at 
its  base,  reminded  me  of  an  Italian  rather  than  a  Chinese  town. 
As  it  is  only  distant  about  five  miles  from  Kew-hsien,  Mr.  Wylie 
visited  and  thus  describes  it :  “  Te-kiang,  which  formerly  contain¬ 
ed  about  ten  thousand  inhabitants,  is  now  a  deplorable  ruin.  The 
few  inhabitants  that  remain  in  the  only  existing  street  are  in  a 
constant  state  of  apprehension,  always  in  dread  of  a  visit  from  the 
Tai-pings.  One  such  took  place  by  a  party  of  from  one  to  two 
hundred  on  the  morning  of  the  day  on  which  the  writer  visited 
it ;  but  they  were  beaten  off  before  reaching  the  town  by  the  im¬ 
perialists,  who  have  a  few  junks  stationed  there,  under  the  direc¬ 
tion  of  the  assistant  general  Tang  Kwo-leen.  At  ITwang-hoo,  a 
small  town  ten  miles  up  the  creek,  it  is  reported  there  are  a  thou¬ 
sand  or  more  of  the  insurgent  party ;  and  Shungan,  a  town  a  few 
miles  farther  up,  is  also  held  by  them.  The  whole  country  seems 
to  be  open  to  them  from  Fan-chang  to  Tung-ling,  the  chief  city 
of  the  adjoining  district  westward,  which  is  also  in  their  pos¬ 
session.” 

The  river  now  abruptly  leaves  the  range,  which  takes  a  south¬ 
easterly  direction,  and,  expanding  into  wide  reaches,  twists  and 
folds  itself  back  like  a  huge  serpent,  embracing  large  flat  islands 
in  its  coils,  but  most  imposing  in  breadth  and  appearance. 

We  frequently  could  get  no  soundings  with  ten  fathoms,  and 
made,  in  consequence,  rapid  progress. 

We  passed  on  the  north  bank  an  imperialist  position  at  Pih- 
ma-tsing,  which  seemed,  however,  to  be  surrounded  by  rebels  in 
the  immediate  neighborhood ;  and,  a  little  before  sunset,  anchored 
for  the  night  between  rich  alluvial  banks,  extending  in  a  level 
plain  to  the  base  of  distant  hills. 

The  scenery  through  which  we  have  passed  to-day  is  infinitely 
the  finest  we  have  yet  seen  since  entering  the  river. 

2 5th.  Weighed  at  daylight.  We  found  that  our  anchorage  last 
night  had  been  upon  the  outskirts  of  a  rebel  position  on  the  north 
bank.  A  number  of  flat,  rush-covered  islands  here  split  the 

Ll 


530 


RECENT  REBEL  FORTIFICATIONS. 


stream,  the  southern  branch,  which  Lord  Amherst’s  Embassy  fol¬ 
lowed,  passing  under  the  walls  of  Tung-ling,  the  chief  city  of  the 
district,  and  a  strong  rebel  position. 

I  made  a  practice,  during  my  progress  up  the  river,  of  spending 
a  great  part  of  the  day  in  the  top-gallant  cross-trees,  from  which 
elevated  post  of  observation  I  could  always  obtain  a  good  view 
of  the  surrounding  country.  I  now  looked  northward  over  a  vast, 
well-cultivated  plain,  extending  for  about  ten  miles  to  the  base  of 
a  range  which  we  estimated  at  three  thousand  feet  in  height. 
The  inhabitants  of  the  islands  were  gathering  the  reeds  and  stack¬ 
ing  them,  apparently  for  fuel. 

The  rebel  town  of  Too-cheaou,  on  the  north  bank,  presented  a 
very  un-Chinese  appearance  of  whitewash  and  cleanliness.  It  - 
was  situated  about  a  mile  from  the  river,  and  was  surrounded  by 
a  white  wall,  which  had  evidently  been  lately  built,  while  the  for¬ 
tifications  bore  all  the  appearance  of  recent  construction.  To 
judge  by  the  mass  of  ruins  and  debris,  which  spread  from  the 
water’s  edge  to  the  foot  of  the  wall,  the  town  must  formerly  have 
extended  to  the  river. 

The  next  point  of  interest  at  which  we  arrive  is  the  Nang-shan- 
ke  rock,  a  precipitous  bluff1  on  the  southern  bank,  overhanging 
the  stream,  in  which  a  rocky  path  had  been  scarped^  and  steps  cut, 
to  facilitate  the  tracking  of  boats. 

The  summit  was  richly  wooded,  the  ruined  walls  of  a  temple 
rising  out  of  the  tinted  foliage.  The  stream  here  forms  a  broad 
single  sheet  of  water,  but  just  beyond  this  it  is  divided  into  three 
branches  by  two  low  wooded  islands,  the  largest  of  which  is  call¬ 
ed  Ho-yeh-chow,  from  a  plant  like  arrow-root  which  it  produces. 
We  again  followed  the  northern  branch. 

The  celebrated  mountain  of  Kew-hwa-shan,  famous  among  oth¬ 
er  things  for  the  enormous  bamboos  which  it  produces,  now  be¬ 
came  visible  in  the  hazy  distance,  reaching  an  elevation,  probably, 
of  from  4000  to  5000  feet.  The  range  of  which  it  forms  part  ap¬ 
proaches  the  river  abruptly,  and  one  of  its  spurs  is  the  bluff  just 
mentioned.  This  range,  like  that  behind  Kew-hsien,  limits  the 
rebel  incursions ;  they  hold  the  country  in  rear,  but  the  river-banks 
are  here  imperialist.  The  nearer  summits  were  not  above  2000 
feet  in  height:  their  slopes  were  well  timbered,  and  watered  by 
numerous  streams,  whose  course  was  marked  by  fertile  valleys. 
While  gazing  at  this  interesting  scenery  through  our  glasses,  our 


A  WILD-BOAR  HUNT.—1 TA-TOONG. 


531 


attention  was  suddenly  distracted  by  some  remarkable  evolutions 
on  the  part  of  the  Dove.  She  had  begun  to  pirouette  in  mid¬ 
stream  in  a  manner  quite  unaccountable,  until  we  made  out  the 
signal  “  wild  pig.”  We  then  discovered  that  she  was  engaged  in 
an  exciting  wild-boar  hunt.  She  succeeded  in  lowering  a  boat 
and  capturing  the  grisly  monster  before  he  could  reach  the  bank, 
and  hoisted  in  her  prize  with  great  triumph.  His  long  wiry  hair, 
gleaming  tusks,  and  bristling  mane  were  undeniable  evidence  of 
his  savage  character,  even  had  he  not  shown  sufficient  ferocity  in 
his  endeavors  to  avenge  himself  on  his  pursuers  to  put  the  matter 
beyond  a  doubt.  W e  afterward  found  in  his  head  a  piece  de  re¬ 
sistance,  which  was  a  most  valuable  and  palatable  addition  to  our 
larder.  No  sooner  was  the  boar  disposed  of  than  we  observed  a 
number  of  porpoises  disporting  themselves  in  the  muddy  stream. 
Our  time,  however,  did  not  admit  of  our  attempting  the  capture 
of  any  of  these  u  river  pigs,”  as  they  are  called  by  the  Chinese. 

Looking  southward  across  the  island,  we  observed  the  houses 
of  Ta-toong,  an  imperialist  position,  but  closely  invested  by  the 
rebels,  whose  flags  we  could  see  flying  from  the  hills  immediately 
in  rear. 

Lord  Amherst’s  party  were  detained  here  by  contrary  winds 
for  four  days,  and  had  therefore  a  good  opportunity  of  exploring 
the  surrounding  country.  As  we  were  denied  any  such  advant¬ 
age,  I  quote  a  few  lines  of  Mr.  Ellis’s  description  of  the  neighbor¬ 
hood.  “I  had  a  delightful  walk,”  he  says,  “through  this  truly 
romantic  country.  All  the  valleys  are  highly  cultivated  with 
wheat,  rice,  cotton,  and  beans  ;  the  houses  substantial,  and  shaded 
by  trees,  some  of  a  very  large  size,  in  growth  resembling  the  oak. 
The  leaf  is  forked,  and  I  believe  the  tree  itself  is  of  the  maple  spe¬ 
cies.  Pudding-stone  and  sandstone  composed  the  greater  part  of 
the  hills  we  crossed  to-day.  They  are  all  in  a  rapid  state  of  dis¬ 
integration.  Great  varieties  of  the  oak  have  been  observed  here. 
We  have  called  the  jagged  lofty  mountains  the  Organ  Pipes,  from 
their  resemblance  to  those  at  Rio  Janeiro.  The  soil  of  the  hills  is 
poor  and  gravelly,  adapted  for  little  else  but  woodland.  We  have 
remarked  several  plantations  of  the  pinaster.  W e  observed  great 
varieties  of  the  fern.  The  oak  plantations  are  kept  very  low,  the 
twigs  being  used  for  fire-wood :  bundles  of  oak  bark  were  exposed 
for  sale  in  the  market,  employed,  I  believe,  as  by  us,  in  tanning. 
The  dried  broad  leaf  of  the  nelumbrium  serves  as  fuel  to  the  low- 


532 


OUR  PILOT.— CULTIVATION. 


er  orders,  many  of  whom  we  saw  returning  to  their  homes  with 
heaps  of  it.” 

I  observed  from  the  deck  some  beautiful  effects  of  coloring  in 
the  foliage,  the  dark  green  of  what  appeared  a  species  of  Scotch 
hr  contrasting  charmingly  with  the  varied  tints  of  the  maple,  or 
the  deep  red  of  the  fading  leaves  of  the  tallow-tree. 

Our  pilot  proves  quite  a  character,  most  communicative  and 
anxious  to  impart  information,  but  how  far  it  is  to  be  relied  upon 
remains  a  question.  He  certainly  is  not  to  be  depended  on  in  the 
capacity  for  which  we  had  engaged  him ;  but  he  made  up  for  his 
deficiency  in  this  respect  by  self-sufficiency  and  quiet  impudence, 
becoming,  nevertheless,  highly  excited  whenever  we  touched  the 
bottom,  as  upon  these  occasions  he  considers  that  his  head  is  in 
danger  for  getting  us  into  a  scrape.  He  has  already  made  friends 
with  sundry  sailors,  frequents  much  the  stoke-hole  upon  cold 
mornings,  and  appears  on  deck  in  a  pair  of  long  woolen  stock¬ 
ings,  which  have  been  served  out  to  him  from  the  ship’s  stores. 
Cigars, are  his  especial  weakness,  and,  in  order  to  enjoy  them,  he 
perches  himself  in  the  chains  like  a  monkey,  and  smokes  in  a 
sybaritic  manner,  expressive  of  keen  enjoyment.  Altogether,  he 
considers  that  he  has  performed  his  functions  as  a  pilot  if,  after 
we  have  got  aground,  he  emerges  from  some  place  of  concealment, 
and  tells  Captain  Osborn  that  at  this  place  the  water  is  not  deep, 
the  proper  channel  being  quite  in  another  direction,  which  he  does 
not  venture  to  specify,  but  disappears  again  to  finish  his  cigar, 
and  contemplate  the  consequences  to  himself  of  our  unpleasant 
situation. 

This  worthy  now  informs  me  that  the  principal  staples  of  cul¬ 
tivation  in  this  district  are  wheat,  cotton,  millet,  potatoes,  rice,  and 
hemp.  In  the  neighborhood  of  Toong-lew,  a  city  at  which  we 
are  to  arrive  to-morrow,  they  grow  tea  of  an  ordinary  description, 
which  is  sold  at  tenpence  a  pound.  Tobacco  is  also  grown  at  a 
place  some  distance  inland.  There  is  no  silk  cultivated  in  this 
neighborhood.  The  pilot  states  that  he  himself  was  employed  in 
the  junks  which  transported  grain  for  the  annual  supply  of  Pekin 
prior  to  the  demolition  of  part  of  the  Grand  Canal  and  the  occu¬ 
pation  of  the  river  by  the  rebels.  He  holds  the  rebels  in  supreme 
aversion  and  contempt;  “not  only,”  he  says,  “do  they  not  shave 
the  head,  but  call  each  other  brother  and  sister,  not  distinguishing 
the  generations.”  I  remarked  that  it  must  be  difficult  to  distin- 


MANDARIN  VISITORS.— CHARACTER  OF  THE  RIVER  BANKS.  533 

guish  between  rebels  from  choice  and  those  who  are  under  com¬ 
pulsion.  He  said  that  the  length  of  the  hair  was  a  very  fair  cri¬ 
terion.  The  imperialists  know  how  long  a  place  had  been  in  rebel 
occupation,  and  those  people  whose  hair  did  not  correspond  in 
length  to  the  period  of  time  were  generally  regarded  as  old  rebels. 

As  we  passed  the  end  of  the  long  island  where  the  Ta-toong 
branch  enters  the  main  stream,  we  observed  two  official  boats, 
each  decorated  with  four  gaudy  flags,  and  propelled  by  twelve 
rowers,  standing  with  their  faces  to  the  prow,  making  toward  us. 
We  accordingly  eased  our  speed,  and  discovered  them  to  be  two 
fifth-grade  mandarins  (crystal  buttons),  who  came  on  board. 
They  announced  themselves  as  emissaries  of  Wang  and  Le,  com¬ 
manding  the  imperial  troops  and  fleet  at  Ta-toong,  and  who  were 
desirous  now  of  presenting  their  compliments  to  the  great  foreign 
chief,  and  of  making  an  offer  of  their  services.  We  gave  them 
some  sherry,  which  they  swallowed  with  very  wry  faces.  They 
had  evidently  never  seen  a  European,  much  less  a  four  hundred 
horse-power  steam-frigate  before,  and  could  scarcely  deliver  them¬ 
selves  of  their  message,  so  rapt  were  they  in  contemplation  of 
surrounding  objects.  The  pilot  at  once  commenced  expatiating 
to  them  on  the  wonders  of  the  barbarian  ship,  remarking  that  he 
had  attained  the  age  of  thirty-one,  and  was  only  now  beginning 
to  have  his  eyes  opened. 

Near  Ta-toong  begins  the  Meikan  Lake,  or  rather  Lagoon,  sep¬ 
arated  from  the  river  by  a  narrow  strip  of  land,  and  extending 
parallel  to  it  for  about  thirty  miles.  At  Wang-chea-tan,  an  im¬ 
perial  port,  which  we  passed  on  the  north  bank,  we  observed  a 
creek  filled  with  small  junks,  and  shortly  after  encountered  a  large 
fleet  of  them.  Those  whom  we  hailed  told  us  their  cargo  consist¬ 
ed  of  paper.  They  had  emerged  from  some  creek  in  imperialist 
occupation  on  the  south  shore,  and  were  now  on  their  way  up  a 
small  tributary  into  districts  not  infested  by  rebels.  They  were 
the  first  trading  junks  we  had  seen  since  entering  the  river,  and 
the  white  sails  dotted  over  the  broad  stream  imparted  to  it  an  un¬ 
usual  air  of  animation. 

The  north  bank  of  the  river  is  more  uniformly  flat  than  the 
south.  The  range  is  generally  more  distant.  The  intervening 
country  seems  thickly,  but  by  no  means  densely  populated:  the 
people  collect  into  small  hamlets,  each  with  its  clump  of  willow 
or  other  trees. 


534 


AN  IMPERIALIST  FLEET. 


Before  reaching  Ch  e-chow  the  stream  again  divided,  we  follow¬ 
ing,  as  usual,  the  northern  branch,  while  Lord  Amherst’s  part}- 
took  that  called  Ma  Show-ja,  leading  past  Che-chow,  which  im¬ 
portant  city  was  visible  in  the  distance,  a  handsome  seven-storied 
pagoda  indicating  its  position  from  afar. 

The  town  itself  lies  among  hills ;  it  is  a  district  city,  and  one 
of  the  strongly-fortified  positions  of  the  insurgents,  under  the 
command  of  Wei-che-Suen,  one  of  their  high  officers. 

The  view  from  our  airy  perch  in  the  cross-trees  this  afternoon 
was  singularly  beautiful.  We  had  exchanged  the  southern  range, 
which  usually  skirted  the  river,  for  the  northern,  which  now  ap¬ 
proached  it  abruptly.  In  this  direction  the  hills  rose  in  undulat¬ 
ing  masses,  overtopping  each  other,  till  a  bold,  irregular  outline 
of  soft  dark  blue  closed  the  prospect.  Small  lakes  glittered  like 
gems  in  the  hollows ;  and  over  the  bright  foliage  of  the  woods  in 
which  they  were  embosomed  the  setting  sun  shed  a  yet  brighter 
glow — farms,  and  hamlets,  and  green  fields  gave  a  domestic  char¬ 
acter  to  the  scenery — and,  as  we  gazed  over  it,  we  found  it  diffi¬ 
cult  to  believe  that  a  country  which  nature  had  clothed  in  such 
warm  and  cheerful  colors,  and  invested  with  so  many  attractions, 
should  be  the  theatre  which  men  had  chosen  for  the  display  of 
all  the  worst  passions  of  which  human  nature  is  capable.  Yet  so 
it  proved,  and  the  very  accident  of  war  contributed  another  and 
most  picturesque  feature  to  the  scene. 

A  large  imperial  fleet  was  assembled  at  the  mouth  of  a  river, 
which  we  could  discern  winding  among  the  hills,  occasionally  ex¬ 
panding  into  a  lake,  then  twisting  away  like  a  silver  thread. 

This  fleet  was  composed  of  fifty  handsome  war-junks,  filled 
with  soldiers  in  bright  uniforms,  and  gay  with  flaunting  flags; 
fluttering  above  one  alone,  I  counted  no  fewer  than  twenty-one 
flags,  all  of  different  colors  and  devices.  Some  of  the  junks  were 
of  more  than  usually  quaint  construction,  elaborately  ornamented, 
carrying  six  and  eight  brass  guns  on  a  side,  and  propelled  by 
sweeps.  As  it  was  now  sundown,  we  anchored  amid  this  gay 
throng:  when  we  had  furpished  the  charming  landscape  with 
this  brilliant  and  novel  foreground,  the  scene  altogether  was  so 
fanciful  and  unreal,  that,  when  the  curtain  of  night  shrouded  it 
from  our  view,  we  might  have  imagined  that  the  play  was  over, 
and  that  it  only  now  remained  to  scramble  out  of  the  theatre,  call 
a  hansom,  and  go  home  to  bed. 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  COMMODORE. 


535 


The  absence  of  beef  reminded  ns  of  the  stern  realities  of  our 
situation.  Messrs.  Wade  and  Lay,  therefore,  went  on  board  the 
one  from  which  the  greatest  number  of  pennons  were  flying,  and 
which  might  not  unnaturally  be  supposed  to  be  the  “flag  junk,” 
in  search  of  an  admiral.  They  found  only  a  commodore:  Ad¬ 
miral  Yang,  it  appeared,  who,  we  understand,  was  at  Ta-toong, 
had  gone  on  to  Nankin  to  superintend  operations  against  the 
rebels.  The  commodore  promised  beef  before  daylight  without 
fail.  W e  had  no  doubt  of  its  existence,  as  we  had  observed  large 
herds  of  cattle  at  pasture  on  the  north  bank.  It  appeared  that 
the  fleet  was  from  the  province  of  Hoopeh ;  that  the  river  at  the 
mouth  of  which  we  were  now  anchored  was  called  the  Tsung- 
yang-ho,  and  that  the  town  of  Tsung-yang  was  situated  among 
the  hills  five  miles  distant. 

We  thus  terminated  a  long  and  interesting  day.  The  distance 
made  was  satisfactory,  the  water  had  been  deep,  some  of  the 
reaches  magnificent,  and  the  scenery,  on  the  whole,  beyond  our 
expectations. 

2 6th.  The  beef  never  made  its  appearance  after  all:  the  early 
morning  hours  were  too  valuable  to  waste  in  waiting  for  it,  so  we 
were  once  more  en  route  a  little  after  daylight.  I  counted  alto¬ 
gether  anchored  on  both  sides  of  the  river,  a  little  above  Tsung- 
yang,  two  hundred  and  fifty  war-junks,  flying  defiant  flags,  and 
well  manned. 

We  soon  pass  the  Tai-tse-kee  rock,  rising  out  of  the  centre  of 
the  river  but  a  very  few  feet  above  its  waters,  upon  which,  never¬ 
theless,  are  still  visible  the  ruined  walls  of  an  old  temple.  A  few 
hundred  yards  beyond  it  is  the  48-chang,  or  180-yards’  passage. 
The  river  is  here  barred  more  than  half  across  its  width  by  rocks 
which  rise  out  of  it  like  stepping-stones.  It  is  called  the  Lan- 
kan-ke,  or  “Bar-river-hen,”  and  derives  its  name  from  the  follow¬ 
ing  legend,  as  graphically  narrated  to  us  by  our  communicative 
pilot : 

“In  former  days  the  scenery  at  this  place  was  very  beautiful 
and  romantic,  gigantic  rocks  being  strewn  over  the  surface  of  the 
country.  One  day  a  bonze  saw  in  a  dream  a  quarrel  arise  between 
the  beneficent  spirits  of  the  air  and  those  who  resided  in  the  rocks. 
The  presiding  spirit  of  these  was  a  rock  in  the  form  of  a  hen ;  and 
the  result  of  the  quarrel  was,  that,  to  give  vent  to  their  spleen,  the 
rock-spirits  determined  to  block  up  the  passage  of  the  river.  In 


536 


APPROACH  TO  NGAN-KING. 


pursuance  of  this  ill-natured  design,  off  started  the  hen-rock,  fol¬ 
lowed  by  all  the  rocks  in  her  train,  when  the  priest  awoke,  and, 
perceiving  what  was  occurring,  with  infinite  presence  of  mind 
commenced  crowing  like  a  cock.  This  so  fascinated  the  leading 
hen-rock  that  her  progress  was  arrested  in  mid-channel,  on  which 
the  goddess  Kwan-yin  was  invoked ;  then  the  people  subscribed 
together,  and  while  the  hen-rock  was  thus  enthralled  by  the  well- 
sustained  crowing  of  the  priest,  they  succeeded  in  cutting  her  head 
off :  this  effectually  checked  the  progress  of  herself  and  attendant 
rocks,  and  there  they  remain  to  this  day.” 

To  avoid  this  dangerous  pass,  a  cutting  has  been  made  on  the 
southern  bank  through  a  corner  called  No-yang-ho.  We,  how¬ 
ever,  found  deep  water  and  a  safe  channel  close  under  the  oppo¬ 
site  shore.  Before  reaching  Ngan-king  the  river  divides,  leaving 
numerous  broad  islands,  which  are  flat  and  extensively  cultivated, 
and  well  supplied  with  cattle.  We  observed  green  grass  spread 
over  the  young  crops  to  protect  them  from  the  frost.  As  we  heard 
occasional  heavy  firing  going  on  ahead,  I  went  up  to  the  cross- 
trees,  and  could  perceive  from  them  the  rebel  and  imperialist 
troops  skirmishing  in  the  distance.  Columns  of  black  smoke  ris¬ 
ing  in  various  directions  proved  to  us  that  the  work  of  destruc¬ 
tion  was  progressing,  and  that  houses  and  villages  were  being  re¬ 
duced  to  ashes  far  and  wide.  Presently  we  open  Ngan-king,  the 
capital  city  of  Ngan-hwui,  with  its  handsome  eight-storied  pagoda 
rising  out  of  a  substantially -built  isolated  stone  fort,  and  massive 
walls  skirting  the  river,  giving  the  city  quite  an.  imposing  ap¬ 
pearance. 

Biding  along  the  shore,  and  keeping  up  with  us  as  we  steamed 
against  the  strong  current,  was  an  imperialist  officer,  apparently 
of  high  rank — for  he  rode  a  handsome  white  horse,  decorated 
with  gay  trappings,  and  was  accompanied  by  ten  or  twelve  horse¬ 
men,  well  armed  and  appointed.  It  seemed  that  the  government 
troops  had  received  notice  of  our  approach,  and  had  determined 
to  take  advantage  of  it,  in  order  to  make  a  grand  attack  upon 
Ngan-king,  the  advanced  rebel  position  up  the  river,  and  strongly 
garrisoned  by  them.  The  mounted  mandarin  was  evidently  a 
general  making  a  reconnoissance,  for  he  did  not  venture  within 
.gunshot  of  the  fort,  but  galloped  back,  seemingly  well  satisfied 
with  his  achievement. 

The  Lee  is  leading  the  way,  sounding  for  a  channel ;  we  are  fol- 


WE  ENGAGE  THE  FORTS.— THEY  ARE  ATTACKED  IN  REAR.  537 


lowing  cautiously,  when  puff  spurts  a  little  cloud  of  white  smoke 
from  one  of  the  embrasures,  and  a  shot  comes  singing  along  over 
the  water,  but  the  elevation  is  deficient,  and  it  falls  into  it  within 
twenty  yards  of  its  mark.  However,  the  direction  was  good,  and 
this  style  of  reception  demands  an  immediate  rejoinder.  It  is 
evident  that  the  news  of  the  Nankin  episode  has  not  yet  reached 
Ngan-king ;  indeed,  we  knew  that  it  was  impossible  that  it  could 
have  done  so ;  and  as  we  anticipated  a  farther  act  of  folly  at  this 
end  of  the  rebel  position,  our  decks  were  cleared  for  action,  and 
the  men  stood  ready  at  their  guns.  The  smoke  of  the  first  shot 
had  not  cleared  away  from  the  muzzle  of  the  gun  before  the  well- 
known  flag  which  heads  the  list  of  British  signals  was  flying  from 
our  mast-head,  and  the  Furious,  Cruiser,  Dove,  and  Lee  had  open¬ 
ed  in  full  chorus.  The  brave  garrison  just  stuck  to  their  gum 
long  enough  to  fire  three  times  more,  and  then  from  my  look-out 
I  could  see  them  running  like  rats  out  of  the  fort  into  the  open 
country  in  rear  of  it.  Here,  however,  they  found  themselves  in 
a  dilemma;  for  the  imperialists  had  descended  from  the  heights 
behind,  and,  plucking  up  courage,  were  now  advancing  in  light 
skirmishing  order  over  the  open  plain,  with  the  evident  intention 
of  attacking  the  fort  in  rear.  They  scarcely  calculated  upon  find¬ 
ing  the  whole  garrison  out  upon  the  plain  to  meet  them.  We 
could  see  the  rebels  hastily  running  together,  and  forming  under 
hedgerows,  and  the  imperialists,  afraid  to  advance,  waving  banners 
and  firing  at  them  at  incredible  distances  with  gingalls. 

At  this  time  the  general  effect  was  in  the  highest  degree  excit¬ 
ing  and  picturesque.  The  hurrying  of  bodies  of  men  to  and  fro 
over  the  fields — the  waving  of  flags  and  firing  of  gingalls — the 
thunder  of  our  own  heavy  guns — the  groups  of  country  people 
hastening  across  the  drawbridge  into  the  city  for  refuge,  stagger¬ 
ing  under  heavy  loads,  and  driving  cattle  before  them — the  smoke 
of  their  burning  homes  rising  up  to  the  cloudless  sky — all  com¬ 
bined  to  form  a  scene  to  gaze  upon  which,  as  it  lay  mapped  out 
beneath,  must  have  stirred  the  heart  and  sent  the  blood  tingling 
through  the  veins  of  the  most  unimpassioned  nature. 

It  is  so  seldom  that  we  experience  emotions  which  unite  in 
themselves  at  one  and  the  same  moment  the  highest  amount  of 
aesthetic  and  animal  excitement.  When  Madame  de  Stael  said, 
“Pour  bien  gouter  la  nature  il  faut  ou  l’amour,  ou  la  religion,” 
she  had  not  tried  the  effect  of  “la  guerre.”  Our  fire  only  lasted 


588 


TACTICS  OF  THE  IMPERIALISTS. 


for  ten  minutes ;  we  did  not  care  to  deface  the  ornamented  exte¬ 
rior  of  the  pagoda,  or  expend  our  moorsom  shells  upon  empty  bat¬ 
teries.  Moreover,  as  the  imperialists  had  not  the  pluck  to  run  into 
the  deserted  fort  when  we  had  cleared  it  for  them,  they  deserved 
to  lose  it ;  so  we  ceased  firing,  and  steamed  gently  under  the  city 
walls,  and  before  we  had  passed  them  saw  the  fort  reoccupied  by 
the  original  tenants. 

Some  of  Lord  Amherst’s  party  visited  this  pagoda,  and  describe 
it  as  being  in  good  repair,  with  a  handsome  marble  obelisk  in  the 
basement  story  containing  the  heart  of  a  celebrated  warrior.  As 
a  good  many  of  our  shot  struck  the  pagoda,  the  obelisk  may  have 
suffered,  if  the  iconoclastic  propensities  of  the  rebels  have  not  al¬ 
ready  led  them  to  regard  this  monument  in  the  light  of  a  sacred 
emblem.  It  was  fortunate  for  us  that  the  effect  which  our  fire, 
short  as  it  was,  had  created,  prevented  the  rebels  from  firing  at  us 
from  the  city  walls ;  for  the  deep  channel  led  us  within  fifty  or 
sixty  yards  of  them,  and  we  seemed  to  look  into  the  muzzles  of 
the  guns  as  we  passed  before  them ;  but  the  batteries  here,  too, 
were  partially  deserted,  and  I  could  look  down  upon  bare  places 
in  the  city,  where  groups  were  collected,  half  uncertain  as  to  our 
intentions;  and  here  and  there  soldiers  ran  crouching  along  the 
walls,  not  caring  to  be  seen  by  us. 

Just  as  we  reached  the  last  angle,  and  were  congratulating  our¬ 
selves  upon  our  good  luck,  two  guns  were  fired  upon  us  in  rapid 
succession,  and  at  rather  close  quarters.  This  was  a  piece  of  ab¬ 
surd  impertinence,  which  involved  another  ten  minutes’  bombard¬ 
ment  as  a  punishment.  It  came  upon  them  too  hot  and  strong  to 
admit  even  of  a  third  shot.  The  battery  was  speedily  silenced, 
and,  after  trying  our  range  at  some  of  the  most  imposing-looking 
public  buildings  in  the  centre  of  the  town,  and  bursting  a  shell  or 
two  in  the  streets  by  way  of  a  warning,  we  left  Ngan-king  behind 
us,  and  with  it  got  clear  of  the  last  strong-hold  of  our  not  very 
agreeable  friends  the  rebels.  On  this  side  of  the  city,  as  on  the 
other,  country  people  were  running  in  before  the  advancing  im¬ 
perialists.  These  latter  are  concentrating  on  this  city  and  on  Man- 
kin  all  their  energies,  as  they  are  on  the  extreme  right  and  left  of 
the  rebel  position,  and  provincial  cities.  Though  finely  situated, 
and  surrounded  by  a  well-built  wall,  the  city  is  not  so  extensive 
or  populous  in  appearance  as  most  towns  of  its  class.  I  observed, 
nevertheless,  several  handsome  substantial  houses  and  yamuns. 


THEIR  TREATMENT  OF  THE  PEASANTRY. 


539 


The  suburbs  had  all  been  leveled,  and  presented  a  lamentable  ap¬ 
pearance  of  desolation.  Mr.  Ellis,  who  explored  the  city  in  1816, 
says  the  shops  were  not  so  good  as  at  Woohoo,  and  the  streets 
were  unusually  narrow.  The  best  shops  were  those  for  the  sale 
of  horn  lanterns  and  porcelain.  “There  would,”  he  remarks, 
“  have  been  little  difficulty  in  laying  out  a  large  sum  in  curiosities 
of  all  kinds,  such  as  necklaces,  old  china,  agate  cups,  vases,  orna¬ 
ments  of  corundum  and  other  stones,  curious  specimens  of  carved 
work  in  wood  and  metal.” 

Not  long  after  leaving  Ngan-king  we  passed  another  imperial 
fleet  of  upward  of  two  hundred  junks  at  anchor.  We  also  ob¬ 
served  the  country  people  flitting,  and  upon  asking  the  pilot  the 
reason  of  this,  he  said  that  doubtless  the  noise  of  our  bombard¬ 
ment  had  led  them  to  suppose  that  the  city  would  be  captured, 
and  a  horde  of  rebels  be  let  loose  upon  the  country  to  rob  and 
plunder. 

It  must  not  be  inferred  from  this  that  the  insurgents  are  the 
only  people  addicted  to  these  vices.  I  have  already  described 
the  country  people  as  flying  into  Ngan-king  before  the  imperial¬ 
ist  troops.  The  unhappy  peasantry  are  indeed  the  victims  of  the 
lawless  propensities  of  both  sides.  Indifferent  to  either,  and  de¬ 
siring  only  peace  and  quiet,  they  are  pillaged  first  by  one  and 
then  the  other  ;  and  in  the  case  of  cities,  the  imperialists,  on  driv¬ 
ing  out  the  rebels,  generally  complete  the  work  which  these  latter 
have  left  half  finished. 

We  were  now  cheered  by  the  sight  of  occasional  trading-junks, 
and  passed  several  collected  at  the  villages  of  Ilong-tse-kee  and 
Wang-tse-kee,  on  the  south  side.  At  the  latter  point,  red  clay 
bluffs,  at  the  base  of  which  large  boulders  of  rock  are  strewn,  ap¬ 
proach  the  river. 

From  the  cross-trees  we  saw  a  vast  expanse  of  water  at  some 
distance  from  the  river,  on  the  north  bank.  This  lagoon  extends 
from  Ngan-king  for  a  distance  of  upward  of  thirty  miles  parallel 
with  the  river,  varying  in  breadth  from  one  to  five  or  six  miles. 
It  is  known  under  various  names.  Behind  it  high  ranges  of 
mountains  are  visible.  In  parts  the  country  was  park-like,  the 
woods  being  dotted  over  it  in  thick  clumps.  On  the  south  bank 
the  hills  are  lower,  and  wooded,  concealing  small  lakes  in  their  re¬ 
cesses.  Altogether,  it  seemed  as  though  the  combination  of  moor 
and  loch,  wood,  marsh,  and  cultivated  ground,  should  afford  abun¬ 
dant  and  varied  sport. 


540 


TOONG-LEW. 


The  city  of  Toong-lew  is  charmingly  situated  on  the  south  bank. 
The  houses  are  overtopped  by  two  pagodas.  One  of  eight  stories 
stands  close  to  the  river ;  the  other  is  built  on  an  eminence  some 
distance  inland.  The  town  is  of  no  great  extent,  and  is  surround¬ 
ed  by  a  wall  which  dips  and  rises  over  the  undulating  ground, 
and  finally  descends  to  the  water  of  a  lake  which  half  encircles 
the  town,  and  is  fringed  with  trees.  As  we  looked  into  it  from 
aloft  we  saw  acres  of  charred  ruins,  the  traces  of  rebel  occupation ; 
they,  however,  merely  contented  themselves  with  burning  a  great 
part  of  the  city,  and  then  evacuated  it  after  holding  it  for  a  very 
short  time.  A  plain  half  a  mile  broad  separates  it  from  the  river. 
This  was  soon  thickly  dotted  with  human  beings,  as  the  people 
observed  us  anchor  before  their  city,  and  came  running  to  the 
shore  to  gaze  at  us.  We  procured  from  them  some  fowls  and 
other  minor  additions  to  our  stock.  Our  day’s  run  had  exceeded 
fifty  miles,  so  that  we  were  well  pleased  with  our  progress.  Some 
of  the  reaches  along  which  we  had  passed,  carrying  plenty  of  wa¬ 
ter,  were  ten  miles  in  length,  and  between  one  and  two  in  breadth, 
without  a  bend.  We  are  daily  more  impressed  with  the  capabil¬ 
ities  of  this  mighty  stream. 


A  FORAGING  EXPEDITION.— OUR  PILOT  ROMANCES.  541 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

A  foraging  Expedition. — Our  Pilot  romances. — Grandeur  of  the  Scenery. — The 
“Little  Orphan  Rock.” — A  windy  Locality. — Entrance  to  the  Poyang  Lake. — 
Legend  of  the  “Orphan  Rocks.” — Floods  of  the  Yang-tse. — Method  of  accounting 
for  them. — Rural  Statistics. — Appearance  of  the  Women. — Geographical  Features 
of  the  Country — The  Valley  of  the  Yang-tse. — Kew-kiang. — A  Survey  of  its  Re¬ 
sources. — Villages  on  the  Banks. — Magnificent  Scenery. — Depredations  of  the 
Nee-fei. — We  land  at  Hwang-shih-kang. — Its  commercial  Activity. — White  Tor¬ 
toise  Island. — Enter  the  Province  of  Hoopeh. — The  Fhilosopher  Laoutz’. — The 
“White  Tiger  Mills.’’ — An  unsatisfactory  Dialogue. — Approach  Hankow. 

October  27.  Weighed  early  from  Toong-lew.  The  mountains 
on  the  southern  bank  now  increase  in  height,  but  we  had  hardly 
begun  to  enjoy  the  scenery  when  we  went  aground  on  a  sand¬ 
bank.  While  they  were  trying  to  get  the  ship  off  we  landed  on 
a  foraging  expedition,  and  succeeded  in  procuring  four  bullocks. 
The  country  was  flat,  and  the  soil  light  and  sandy.  Small  farms 
were  dotted  about ;  and  carts  drawn  by  buffaloes,  ridden  instead 
of  driven,  creaked  across  it. 

The  country  people  told  us  that  not  very  long  since  the  reb¬ 
els  had  overrun  their  district,  and  they  had  been  obliged  to  fly. 
They  were  all  armed,  and  many  bore  on  their  breasts  the  inscrip¬ 
tion  “Valiant,”  signifying  that  they  were  enrolled  in  the  militia. 
Some  of  the  young  men  had  been  kidnapped  by  the  rebels,  and 
one  of  them,  who  had  escaped  from  their  clutches,  was  pointed  out 
to  us. 

We  took  our  pilot  ashore  with  us,  which  alarmed  him  greatly, 
as  he  supposed  that  we  were  going  to  inflict  some  description  of 
summary  punishment  upon  him  for  running  us  aground.  When, 
however,  he  discovered  that  we  only  required  him  to  bargain  for 
bullocks,  he  recovered  his  composure,  and  was  soon  imparting, 
with  much  animated  action,  to  a  group  of  admiring  countrymen, 
a  very  highly-embellished  narrative  of  our  late  action  at  Xgan- 
king.  With  our  heroic  performances  on  that  occasion  he  was 
careful  to  identify  himself.  “You  should  have  seen  how  we 
gave  it  to  them,”  he  said  ;  “  how  our  shot  told,  and  how  big  our 
shot  was  ;  why,  it  would  have  taken  three  such  blessed  old  fools 


542 


GRANDEUR  OF  THE  SCENERY. 


as  you  to  lift  one  of  them.”  This  was  said  to  a  respectable  mid¬ 
dle-aged  man,  who  was  sucking  a  pipe  and  staring  incredulously 
at  the  narrator.  It  turned  the  laugh  in  his  favor. 

As  some  of  our  party  had  discovered  a  lake  a  short  distance  in¬ 
land,  we  started  off  to  explore  it.  We  found  it  covered  with  wa¬ 
ter-fowl.  Pelicans,  wild  swans,  geese,  ducks,  besides  cranes,  her¬ 
ons,  and  a  number  of  feathered  bipeds  unknown  to  me,  cackled, 
fluttered,  and  stalked  about,  making  a  great  racket.  Unfortu¬ 
nately,  we  were  a  large  and  somewhat  noisy  party,  and  they  were 
very  shy.  A  rash  shot  sent  them  all  wheeling  into  the  air  with 
loud  cries,  and  they  continued  to  circle  and  scream  overhead,  to 
see  whether  we  would  go  away ;  and,  finding  us  stationary,  tailed 
off  in  long  strings  to  some  more  secure  retreat. 

I  prosecuted  my  explorations  with  two  companions,  and,  cross¬ 
ing  a  low  ridge,  came  upon  a  farm  which  rejoiced  in  the  descrip¬ 
tive  name  of  Hwa-yuen-chin,  or  “  The  Flower-garden  Station.” 
It  was  situated  on  the  margin  of  a  great  lagoon,  about  two  miles 
broad,  and  of  unknown  length,  called  by  the  natives  Ta-hoo,  or 
“The  Lake”  par  excellence.  Here  I  shot  a  brace  of  fine  ducks ; 
one  of  them,  however,  was  only  wounded,  and  gave  us  a  long 
chase  in  a  punt,  which  we  opportunely  found  and  appropriated. 
The  water  was  nowhere  more  than  six  or  eight  feet  in  depth. 

We  were  told  that  the  light  sandy  soil  retained  the  heat  of  the 
sun  in  summer,  making  it  almost  impossible  for  the  people  to 
work  in  their  fields  during  the  heat  of  the  day.  Even  now,  late 
in  November,  the  midday  sun  was  formidable,  though  the  nights 
and  mornings  were  absolutely  cold.  The  ship  got  off  about  4  P. 
M.,  but  remained  at  anchor  for  the  night. 

28 th.  Weighed  early.  The  morning  was  mild  at  sunrise,  but 
shortly  after  a  regular  northeast  gale  set  in,  bitterly  cold,  and  very 
strong.  The  scenery  upon  the  south  shore  assumed  a  character 
of  grandeur,  surpassing  any  thing  we  had  hitherto  seen.  The 
mountains  came  boldly  down  to  the  water’s  edge,  projecting  into 
the  river  in  rocky  promontories  or  precipitous  bluffs.  The  most 
striking  of  these  is  the  Ma-toong-shan,  which,  however,  as  we  fol¬ 
lowed  a  northern  channel,  we  only  saw  at  a  distance.  The  gale 
now  blew  furiously,  obscuring  the  atmosphere  with  clouds  of 
dust.  This  haziness,  and  the  general  blackness  of  the  weather, 
invested  our  approach  to  the  gorge  of  Seaou-koo-shan  with  quite 
an  imposing  effect.  The  Cruiser,  with  top-gallant-masts  struck, 


THE  “LITTLE  ORPHAN  ROCK.” 


543 


it,  to  a  height  of  near  three  hundred  feet.  The  mountain  opposite, 
called  Chin-tse-shan,  or  the  “Mirror  Mountain,”  rises  in  a  sheer 
mass  from  the  river  margin,  and  is  crowned  by  walls  running 
along  the  brink  of  precipices,  and  towers  perched  on  dizzy  pin¬ 
nacles  of  rock.  Part  of  this  fortification  is  the  work  of  the  rebels. 
A  Buddhist  temple  has  been  built,  or  rather  let  into  the  face  of 
the  Orphan  Rock,  like  a  piece  of  enamel,  about  midway  between 
the  base  and  the  summit.  It  is  approached  by  steps  hewn  out  of 
the  rock,  and  presents  a  most  striking  and  picturesque  aspect. 
Mr.  Ellis,  who  visited  this  temple,  says  that  a  paper  was  brought 
to  him  by  the  priests  stating  that  the  temple  had  been  endowed 
by  the  emperor’s  mother.  Junks  usually  stop  here  to  make  offer¬ 
ings  to  propitiate  the  local  deity.  We  observed  an  inscription 


lay  over  to  the  blast;  the  two  little  gun-boats,  scarcely  visible 
ahead,  seemed  plunging  into  the  depths  of  some  infernal  region, 
the  gigantic  portals  of  which  loomed  indistinctly  through  the 
mist.  Presently  we  found  ourselves  forcing  our  way  between 
two  lofty  masses  of  rock,  in  a  channel  scarce  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
in  width,  and  fifteen  or  sixteen  fathoms  deep. 

The  Seaou-koo-shan,  or  “Little  Orphan  Rock,”  rises  precipi- . 
tously  out  of  the  midst  of  the  waves,  which  were  dashing  against 


The  Seaou-koo-shan  (Yang-tse-kiang). 


544 


A  WINDY  LOCALITY. 


upon  a  smooth  part  of  the  rock,  conspicuously  placed,  and  which 
Mr.  Wade  imagined  to  be  a  quotation.  It  was  as  follows : 

“  Green  hill  by  the  river, 

From  the  extremity  of  its  bend,  one  beholds  thee.” 

This  pass  marks  the  boundary  between  the  provinces  of  Ngan- 
liwui  and  Kiang-si. 

We  now  enter  this  latter  province,  described  in  the  Chinese 
Repository  as  one  spacious  valley,  comprising  an  area  of  72,176 
square  miles,  or  about  equal  to  the  State  of  Virginia,  with  a  popu¬ 
lation  of  more  than  twenty-three  million  of  souls.  The  first  place 
on  it  at  which  we  arrive  is  Pang-tse,  picturesquely  situated  among 
the  hills.  The  few  buildings  that  remain  of  a  town,  never  very 
extensive,  are  surrounded  by  a  wall,  which  incloses  as  well  a  vast 
area  of  barren  hill  and  valley.  The  object  of  those  who  planned 
the  wall  seems  to  have  been  to  carry  it  to  the  top  of  the  highest 
hills,  and  over  ridges  so  steep  that  they  were  of  themselves  a  de¬ 
fense. 

As  the  wind  increased  almost  to  a  hurricane  this  afternoon,  we 
came  to  an  anchor  at  2  P.M.  at  a  spot  where  a  very  disagreeable 
bar  of  sand  rendered  caution  necessary.  We  were  led  to  believe 
that  gales  such  as  the  one  we  were  now  experiencing  were  com¬ 
mon  in  this  locality,  from  the  numerous  sand  dunes  which  we  ob¬ 
served  upon  the  southern  bank,  and  which  presented  a  remarkable 
contrast  to  the  green  knolls  and  wooded  mountains  which  usually 
rose  from  it. 

29 th.  The  thermometer  early  this  morning  fell  for  the  first 
time  to  two  degrees  below  freezing.  It  was  found  necessary  to 
buoy  the  channel  ahead,  and  the  wind  having  moderated,  we 
weighed,  and  carried  three  fathoms  of  water  across  the  bar.  The 
gale  of  yesterday  seems  to  have  cleared  the  air,  for  the  day  is 
beautiful,  and  enables  us  to  appreciate  the  magnificent  scenery 
which  opens  upon  us  as  we  approach  the  entry  to  the  Poyang 
hake.  The  channel  connecting  this  extensive  sheet  of  water 
with  the  great  river  is  about  three  miles  long  and  one  broad. 
On  its  eastern  shore,  at  the  point  of  junction,  Hoo-kow,  the  “City 
of  the  Lake’s  Mouth,”  is  perched  upon  the  precipitous  rock  called 
Tsa-chee,  or  the  “Jagged  Head,”  opposite  to  which  the  majestic 
Lew-shan,  or  “Mule”  Mountain,  rears  its  imposing  crest  to  a 
height  of  5000  feet.  Pising  out  of  the  waters  of  the  lake  in  soli- 
tary  grandeur,  we  could  discern  in  the  distance  the  Takoo-shan, 


ENTKANCE  TO  THE  POYANG  LAKE.— LEGEND. 


545 


Entrance  to  the  Poyang  Lake. 

or  Great  Orphan  Rock.  These  romantic  scenes,  and  the  associa¬ 
tions  connected  with  them,  have  rendered  them  the  frequent  sub¬ 
jects  of  poetic  celebration  among  the  people. 

Our  pilot,  who  is  a  great  legend-monger,  gave  us  the  follow¬ 
ing  account  of  the  origin  of  the  Takoo-shan :  A  fisherman  once 
dropped  his  anchor  under  Seaou-koo-shan,  or  the  Little  Orphan 
Rock,  and  could  not  find  it  again,  so  he  applied  to  a  priest  to  help 
him.  The  priest  gave  him  an  invocation,  which  he  was  to  place 
upon  his  forehead,  and  then  dive  for  his  anchor.  The  spell  suc¬ 
ceeded  to  a  miracle ;  not  only  did  he  discover  his  lost  anchor,  but 
a  charming  river-nymph  as  well,  who  had  chosen  it  for  her  couch. 
At  first  he  stood  entranced  at  so  fair  a  vision ;  then,  regaining  his 
presence  of  mind,  he  determined  on  preserving  a  memento  of  it, 
and  gently  abstracting  a  tiny  shoe  from  the  fascinating  crushed 
foot  of  this  Chinese  Naiad,  he  ascended  to  the  surface  with  his 
anchor.  But  the  lady,  probably  roused  by  finding  herself  dis¬ 
possessed  of  her  iron  bedstead,  discovered  the  loss  of  her  shoe, 
and  instantly  started  in  pursuit.  Notwithstanding  that  a  stern 
chase  is  usually  a  long  chase,  the  fisherman  was  rapidly  losing 
ground,  when  he  bethought  himself  of  altering  the  position  of  the 
sails,  so  as  to  mislead  his  fair  pursuer  as  to  the  direction  he  was 
taking,  the  stem  and  stern  of  his  junk  being  alike.  This  device, 

M  M 


546 


FLOODS  OF  THE  YANG-TSE. 


however,  though  it  originated  an  entirely  new  rig  upon  the  river, 
failed,  and  he  was  ultimately  so  hard  pressed  that  he  was  obliged 
to  throw  the  shoe  overboard  at  the  mouth  of  the  Poyang  Lake : 
and  on  the  spot  arose  the  solitary  rock  called  Takoo-shan,  or 
sometimes  Sheae-koo-shan,  or  the  Shoe  Hill,  ever  after. 

The  navigation  at  this  point  was  in  the  highest  degree  intri¬ 
cate  :  the  mass  of  water  pouring  out  of  the  lake,  and  meeting  the 
swift  current  of  the  river,  formed  whirlpools  and  eddies,  known  in 
China  as  “chow-chow”  water,  and,  what  we  dreaded  more,  shoals 
and  bars  in  every  direction. 

We  had  not  advanced  ten  miles  from  our  last  night’s  anchorage 
before  we  found  ourselves  hard  and  fast  upon  one  of  these  pro¬ 
voking  impediments.  Hot  that  delays  of  this  character  were  to 
be  altogether  regretted,  as  they  gave  us  opportunities  of  landing 
and  exploring  the  country.  The  ship  had  not  been  on  shore  ten 
minutes  before  we  followed  its  example,  and  were  straggling  far 
and  wide,  some  of  us  in  search  of  game,  others  of  information,  and 
others,  again,  of  bullocks  and  fowls. 

We  had  landed  on  the  north  bank,  and  the  country  stretched 
away,  in  one  unbroken  level,  to  a  range  of  hills  just  visible  in  the 
distance.  Herds  of  buffaloes  were  grazing  upon  the  pastures, 
numbers  of  them  bestridden  by  urchins,  who,  seated  upon  the 
backs  of  these  ungainly  animals,  tended  the  herd,  presenting,  as 
they  did  so,  a  most  singular  appearance.  A  levee  extended  along 
the  river-bank  to  keep  its  waters  from  overflowing  the  country 
in  rear,  and  upon  it  the  peasantry  had  built  an  almost  continuous 
row  of  mean  cottages,  the  roofs  and  walls  of  which  were  of  reeds. 
Here  and  there  a  stone  building  had  been  erected  as  a  rebel  post, 
or  as  a  house  of  entertainment  by  some  enterprising  speculator. 
A  dread  of  floods  operated  as  the  chief  inducement  to  putting  up 
tenements  of  so  unsubstantial  a  character,  many  of  the  owners 
having  farms  on  the  hills,  to  which  they  repaired  during  the 
rains.  They  asserted  that  the  river  occasionally  rose  a  hundred 
feet.  We  were  contented  to  believe,  however,  our  own  observa¬ 
tion,  and  the  marks  we  perceived  convinced  us  that  fifty  feet 
above  its  then  level  was  a  low  estimate  for  its  summer  rise.  Here 
the  current  had  evidently  rushed  violently  over  the  face  of  the 
country,  devastating  an  immense  area  of  cultivated  or  pasture 
land  by  depositing  upon  it  great  quantities  of  sand. 

It  would  appear  that  ultimately  the  waters  only  partially  re- 


METHOD  OF  ACCOUNTING  FOR  THEM.— INN. 


547 


cede,  leaving  vast  tracts  covered  with  those  lagoons  and  marshes 
which  we  continued  to  observe  on  both  banks  of  the  river.  Dur¬ 
ing  the  dry  season  a  considerable  subsidence  takes  place,  and  the 
channels  by  which  their  surplus  waters  were  discharged  into  the 
river  dry  up.  The  consequence  is,  that,  after  partial  rains,  all  those 
mountain  torrents  which  would,  under  other  circumstances,  go  to 
swell  the  waters  of  the  parent  stream,  get  absorbed  in  the  lakes 
at  the  base  of  the  hills,  and,  unless  the  rain  is  of  sufficient  duration 
to  overflow  them,  the  river  receives  no  additional  supply.  Mean¬ 
time  the  great  evaporation  which  must  take  place  from  so  large  a 
surface  of  water  renders  the  rise  of  the  lakes  comparatively  slow. 
This  would  appear  the  only  way  of  accounting  for  the  fact  that, 
although  partial  rises  do  occur  in  the  river,  they  are  not  so  com¬ 
mon  as  the  humidity  of  the  climate  would  lead  one  to  anticipate. 
In  all  probability,  it  will  he  found,  however,  that  these  rises  occur 
more  frequently  below  the  Poyang  Lake  than  above  it.  This 
may  be  presumed  from  the  fact  that  the  waters  which  supply  the 
Poyang,  rising  in  lower  latitudes,  are  not  subject  to  those  frosts, 
and  are  more  readily  thawed  than  the  upper  tributaries  of  the 
river,  and  that,  consequently,  the  volume  of  water  discharged  from 
the  lake  varies  in  amount  to  a  much  greater  extent  than  that 
which  flows  down  to  meet  it. 

But  the  violence  of  the  river  was  not  more  dreaded  by  the  un¬ 
happy  peasantry  than  that  of  the  rebels:  when  they  were  not 
flooded  out  by  the  one,  they  were  burnt  out  by  the  other.  But 
a  few  months  had  elapsed  since  the  “  pests”  had  scoured  this  dis¬ 
trict,  and  had  burnt  all  the  houses  for  fuel.  As  one  of  the  peas¬ 
antry  pathetically  remarked  when  he  told  us  of  it — “Ah!  those 
were  sad  times !” 

We  entered  a  small  brick  cottage,  on  the  door-post  of  which 
the  owner  had  signified  that  it  was  a  house  of  entertainment  for 
travelers,  and  found  that  it  was  divided  into  two  small  rooms  and 
one  large  one.  In  the  latter  were  straw  beds  on  the  ground,  in 
which  eight  or  ten  travelers  might  have  been  closely  packed. 
The  owner  informed  us  that  he  possessed  three  acres  of  land,  pro¬ 
ducing  various  descriptions  of  pulse  and  grain,  which  he  showed 
us,  and  for  which  he  paid  government  a  ground-rent  of  35.  6h. 
He  exported  his  produce  to  the  neighboring  districts. 

Close  to  the  inn  was  a  village  school,  in  which  there  were  only 
eight  pupils.  The  schoolmaster  told  us  that  he  got  eight  strings 


548 


APPEARANCE  OE  THE  WOMEN.— PA-LE-KIANG. 


of  cash,  or  about  nine  shillings  a  year,  per  pupil,  but  that  many 
of  the  country  people  were  too  poor  to  avail  themselves  of  the 
privilege,  and  sent  their  children  to  tend  cattle  instead. 

Passing  another  cottage,  we  detected  the  fumes  of  opium,  and 
on  entering  found  two  men  smoking  tobacco ;  but  a  light  gleam¬ 
ing  through  a  crevice  from  an  inner  compartment  betrayed  the 
secret  occupation  of  the  inmate,  and  on  looking  in,  we  found  him 
stretched  comfortably  on  his  side,  frizzling  the  opium  through  a 
flame  into  his  pipe  in  the  most  approved  manner.  So  absorbed 
was  he  in  the  enjoyment  of  “  kief”  that  he  scarcely  condescended 
to  notice  us,  though  we  must  have  presented  a  very  unexpected 
and  startling  apparition.  His  comrades  asked  us  what  we  had  to 
sell,  evidently  inferring,  from  the  interest  we  displayed  in  the 
consumption  of  the  “  drug,”  that  we  had  some  of  it  to  dispose  of. 

We  did  not  see  many  women ;  those  who  did  favor  us  with  a 
sight  of  their  countenances  might  certainly  have  spared  us  that 
treat.  I  think  I  never  saw  the  fair  sex  under  a  less  attractive 
exterior. 

It  was  at  this  point  that  Lord  Amherst’s  mission  left  the  Great 
River,  taking  the  route  to  Canton  by  way  of  the  Poyang  Lake, 
which  gave  rise  to  the  following  parting  reflection,  to  be  found  in 
Mr.  Ellis’s  Journal:  “In  vain  will  the  patriot  look  for  kindred 
feelings — in  vain  will  the  man  of  honor  look  for  a  friend,  and  still 
more  in  vain  would  amiable  woman  look  for  a  companion  on  the 
banks  of  the  Yang-tse-kiang.”  So  far  as  our  experience  went, 
this  latter  sentiment  was  as  true  of  “  amiable”  man. 

The  village  we  had  been  exploring  was  called  Pa-le-kiang,  or 
the  Eight-le-river,  and  is  the  spot  from  which  travelers  journeying 
south  usually  cross  the  Ta-kiang.  Pere  Hue,  who  traveled  over¬ 
land  from  Woochang,  struck  it  at  this  point,  and  crossed  to  Hoo- 
kow. 

In  a  geographical  point  of  view,  the  section  of  the  river  which 
traverses  this  corner  of  Kiang-si  is  perhaps  the  most  interesting. 
We  had  now  ascended  the  Ta-kiang  for  a  distance  of  four  hund¬ 
red  and  fifty  miles,  and  had  only  just  reached  its  first  real  afflu¬ 
ent  ;  for,  with  the  exception  of  the  Tsung-yang  River,  all  those 
tributaries  marked  as  such  in  the  map  turned  out  to  be  ditches 
almost  dry  in  the  winter  time.  But  here  the  great  river  meets  a 
feeder  worthy  of  it.  In  a  single  deep  rolling  tide  the  Poyang 
Lake  discharges  into  it  the  whole  drainage  of  the  vast  province 


THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  YANG-TSE. 


549 


of  Kiang-si.  Surrounded  on  all  sides  by  lofty  ranges,  the  north¬ 
ern  barrier  of  this  lake  must  at  some  former  period  have  proved 
the  feeblest,  and  given  egress  to  the  accumulated  waters  through 
this  gorge. 

As  though  to  meet  this  important  accession,  the  Ta-kiang  takes 
that  southern  bend  which  forms  one  of  the  most  marked  features 
of  its  course.  In  forming  this  curve  it  has  been  compelled  to 
force  its  passage  through  the  Ma-tze-shan,  or  “  Horse’s  Spine” 
range,  which  forms  part  of  the  western  boundary  of  Kiang-si,  di¬ 
viding  that  province  from  Hoopeh.  These  mountains  cross  the 
river  at  Woo-sueh,  and  under  another  name  trend  away  to  the 
northeast,  marking  the  frontier  of  the  province  in  that  direction, 
and  leaving  a  small  strip  of  it  inclosed  between  them  and  the 
northern  bank  of  the  Ta-kiang.  After  having  thus  fulfilled  its 
mission  by  dipping  into  Kiang-si  and  carrying  off  the  surplus 
waters  of  the  Poyang,  the  great  river  leaves  the  province  by  the 
romantic  pass  of  the  Seaou-koo-shan,  or  “  Orphan  Bock,”  already 
described. 

The  mountain  system  of  this  part  of  China  may  be  better  un¬ 
derstood  by  supposing  that,  with  those  ranges,  along  the  base  of 
which  the  river  forms  its  southern  curve,  a  northern  range  is  con¬ 
nected,  forming,  as  it  were,  a  loop  upon  it,  and  opposing  barriers 
which  the  river  has  burst  to  obtain  ingress  and  egress.  At  the 
same  time,  it  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  mountains  compos¬ 
ing  this  loop  are  not  the  only  mountains  to  the  north  of  the  river. 
As  repeatedly  observed,  high  ranges  were  constantly  visible  in 
that  direction,  though  they  rarely  approached  the  river.  In  fact, 
throughout  the  whole  length  of  our  voyage,  the  great  valley  of 
the  Yang-tse,  or  Ta-kiang,  has  maintained  the  same  general  char¬ 
acter,  which  may  be  described  in  a  few  words.  Its  breadth  varied 
exceedingly,  and  may  have  ranged  from  ten  to  fifty  miles.  The 
river  invariably  hugged  the  southern  range,  which  seldom  reach¬ 
ed  more  than  four  or  five  miles  from  its  banks,  leaving  a  strip  of 
alluvial  plain,  while  numerous  lakes  washed  the  base  of  the  hills 
or  lay  embosomed  among  them.  To  the  north,  plain  and  lake 
sometimes  extended  far  as  the  eye  could  reach ;  but  generally 
mountains,  more  or  less  distant,  closed  the  prospect. 

30 th.  We  found,  to  our  disgust,  that  we  had  followed  the  wrong 
passage ;  we  were  therefore  obliged  to  retrace  our  steps  over  the 
bar,  and,  rounding  the  island  opposite  the  entrance  to  the  lake, 


550 


KEW-KI AN G.  — A  SURVEY  OF  ITS  RESOURCES. 


look  for  a  channel  in  that  direction.  This  we  were  at  last  fortu¬ 
nate  enough  to  discover,  but  not  without  crossing  another  very 
difficult  bar.  At  2  o’clock  P.M.  we  were  opposite  Kew-kiang. 
As  we  had  letters  to  the  authorities  of  this  important  “foo”  city, 
the  first  one  of  its  class  belonging  to  the  imperialists  we  had 
reached  since  leaving  Chin-kiang-foo,  we  remained  here  for  the 
remainder  of  the  day,  and  went  on  shore  to  investigate  its  present 
condition.  We  found  it  to  the  last  degree  deplorable.  A  single 
dilapidated  street,  composed  only  of  a  few  mean  shops,  was  all 
that  existed  of  this  once-thriving  and  populous  city;  the  remaiu- 
der  of  the  vast  area,  comprised  within  walls  five  or  six  miles  in 
circumference,  contained  nothing  but  ruins,  weeds,  and  kitchen- 
gardens.  The  inhabitants  declare  that  this  is  partly  owing  to  the 
five  years’  occupation  of  the  town  by  the  rebels,  and  partly  to 
the  destructive  propensities  of  the  imperialist  troops,  who  retook 
it  from  them  only  last  April,  or  seven  months  ago.  Its  present 
garrison  consisted  of  four  thousand  men,  while  its  population 
scarce  amounted  to  as  many  hundreds.  They  seemed,  all  of  them, 
following  in  our  train,  their  faces  expressive  of  intense  astonish¬ 
ment,  mingled  with  some  alarm. 

In  the  centre  of  the  city  was  an  eminence  covered  with  ruins, 
which  commanded  an  extensive  and  remarkable  view.  Beneath 
us  lay  a  dreary  waste  of  brickbats;  behind  us  rose  the  magnifi¬ 
cent  peaks  of  the  precipitous  Lew-shan;  before  us  a  chain  of 
lakes  extended  into  the  dim  distance,  until  they  were  merged  in 
the  fiery  haze  of  the  setting  sun;  while,  sweeping  under  the 
walls,  the  mighty  Ta-kiang  poured  its  yellow  volume  seaward. 
The  only  bright  object  in  Kew-kiang  was  a  Confucian  temple, 
which  had  just  been  built  by  the  emperor;  it  contained  a  tablet 
inscribed  by  a  celebrated  minister  of  state  to  the  memory  of  his 
friend,  a  Tartar  general,  who  had  fallen  at  the  capture  of  the  city. 

In  the  suburb  there  was  a  more  substantial  street  and  better 
shops :  one  of  them  was  devoted  to  the  sale  of  foreign  fabrics ;  in 
it  I  observed  Manchester  calicoes  and  a  species  of  red  serge  which 
was  imported  from  Russia.  We  visited  an  apothecary’s  shop,  and 
saw  him  prescribe  crushed  spiders,  ginseng,  and  sundry  roots  and 
reptiles,  to  anxious  patients ;  also  a  baker’s  establishment,  where 
we  found  that  some  of  the  flour  used  came  all  the  way  from  the 
province  of  Shantung.  We  nibbled  sweetmeats  at  a  grocer’s,  in¬ 
spected  cottons  at  a  haberdasher’s,  and  searched  in  vain  for  old 


VILLAGES  ON  THE  BANKS. 


551 


china  in  a  crockery-shop.  Kew-kiang  boasts  two  pagodas — one 
outside  and  one  inside  the  city :  the  latter  partially  destroyed. 

December  1.  In  consequence  of  the  difficulties  of  the  navigation 
yesterday,  the  Lee  was  sent  on  this  morning  to  explore  the  river 
ahead ;  on  her  returning  with  a  favorable  report,  we  weighed,  and 
proceeded  prosperously  for  about  twenty  miles,  wffien  we  were 
brought  up  suddenly  by  a  bar,  across  which  it  was  necessary  to 
buoy  a  channel.  We  ultimately  scraped  over,  with  about  three 
inches  to  spare  under  the  keel.  At  this  point  the  village  of 
Loong-ping  is  situated  on  the  north  bank,  and  on  the  opposite 
side  some  red  clay  bluffs  are  a  conspicuous  feature. 

Looking  in  a  southerly  direction,  we  could  see  from  the  cross- 
trees  a  large  lake  dotted  with  high  wooded  islands,  upon  which, 
in  the  distance,  the  white  sails  of  numerous  junks  that  were  nav¬ 
igating  it  were  visible. 

To  the  north,  an  extensive  lake,  also  covered  with  junks, 
stretched  away  to  the  base  of  a  distant  range.  I  here  observed, 
for  the  first  time,  wood-rafts,  each  with  a  small  population  of  its 
own,  who  lived  in  huts  constructed  upon  them.  The  countrjr 
was  flat  and  well  cultivated,  maintaining  a  large  and  apparently 
more  thriving  population  than  we  had  observed  at  any  previous 
section  of  the  river.  A  much -frequented  road  traversed  the 
plain,  along  which  numerous  travelers  journeyed  in  wheel-bar- 
rows,  protecting  themselves  from  the  sun’s  rays  with  bright-col¬ 
ored  umbrellas. 

A  few  miles  farther  we  pass,  on  the  northern  bank,  the  flour¬ 
ishing  market-town  of  W oo-sueh,  the  whole  population  of  wffiich 
turned  out  to  stare  at  us ;  and  on  the  south  the  pretty  village  of 
Ma-kow,  charmingly  situated  in  a  wooded  valley.  The  Ma-tze- 
shan,  or  Horse’s  Spine  Mountains,  now  approach  the  river,  rising 
abruptly  from  its  waters  to  a  height  of  1500  or  2000  feet.  We 
are  delighted  to  observe  that  the  northern  chain  seems  to  bar  our 
progress  ahead,  as  through  them  we  shall  have  to  force  our  way 
to-morrow;  and,  to  judge  from  the  mountainous  nature  of  the 
country,  we  may  depend  upon  fine  scenery.  Meantime  our  voy¬ 
age  of  to-day  has  been  invested  with  an  interest  peculiar  to  itself. 
Never  before  had  these  waters  been  explored  by  a  foreigner,  un¬ 
less  mayhap  some  stray  Jesuit  in  disguise,  who  has  given  us  no 
account  of  his  wanderings,  may  have  traversed  them  in  the  course 
of  his  missionary  labors.  We  could  now,  therefore,  look  forward 


552 


MAGNIFICENT  SCENERY.— THE  NEE-FEI. 


to  indulging  for  some  clays  in  that  rare  but  delightful  excitement 
of  gazing  for  the  first  time  upon  scenes  heretofore  unyisited. 

2 d.  We  were  on  deck  earlier  than  usual  this  morning,  determ¬ 
ined  not  to  miss  any  of  the  unknown  beauties  of  the  river. 
Shortly  after  weighing,  we  entered  the  gorge  from  which  the  riv¬ 
er  emerges  into  the  province  of  Kiang-si.  Mountains  overhang 
it  on  both  sides,  and  as  it  winds  between  them  it  assumes  all  the 
appearance  of  a  highland  loch.  The  valleys  are  wooded  with 
dark-green  firs ;  the  gray  rocks  are  crowned  with  purple  heather, 
and  wild  crags  force  themselves  into  bold  and  picturesque  relief. 

The  most  striking  spot  is  at  the  precipitous  bluff  of  Pwan- 
pien-shan,  opposite  to  which  the  surface  of  the  limestone  cliff  is 
quarried  out,  and  on  a  projecting  point  a  temple  is  left  standing. 
With  almost  every  revolution  of  the  paddle-wheels  a  new  point 
of  view  opened  upon  us,  displaying  unexpected  attractions  of 
peak  and  pinnacle  in  the  foreground,  and  the  abrupt  outlines  of 
lofty  ranges  in  the  distance.  To  one  of  these,  in  consequence  of 
a  singular  depression  in  its  outline,  we  gave  the  name  of  the  “Dev¬ 
il’s  Bite  Bange.” 

Passing  the  towns  of  Sha-wootze  and  Tien-shia-chin,  we  reached 
at  11  A.M.the  sub-prefectural  city  of  Ke-chow,  its  walls  crowning 
a  bluff  which  overhangs  the  river.  Rising  from  the  midst  of  the 
stream  is  a  circular  stone  fort.  We  remained  here  a  short  time 
to  receive  a  mandarin,  who  came  on  board  to  present  to  Lord  El¬ 
gin  the  compliments  of  the  Governor  General  of  IIoo-Kwang, 
into  whose  jurisdiction  we  had  now  entered.  The  river  was 
crowded  with  small  junks,  all  going  in  one  direction,  and  foot- 
passengers  thronged  the  roads  along  its  margin.  We  learned 
from  our  visitor,  on  asking  him  the  cause  of  this  commotion,  that 
the  rebels  were  at  Kwang-tse,  a  city^  lying  thirty  or  forty  miles 
distant  to  the  northeast,  and  mentioned  by  Hue  as  having  been 
visited  by  him. 

These  were  probably  not  the  Tai-ping  rebels,  but  some  of  the 
Hee-fei,  who  had  taken  advantage  of  the  insecure  state  of  the 
country  to  commit  depredations  which  were  driving  the  country 
people  from  their  homes.  Some  of  the  provincial  authorities  were 
now  in  the  city,  endeavoring  to  restore  confidence ;  to  assist  them, 
a  large  body  of  imperial  cavalry,  numbered  at  10,000  by  our  in¬ 
formant,  had  just  arrived,  and  were  then  encamped  in  the  neigh¬ 
borhood.  Ke-chow  had  been  partially  destroyed  by  the  Tai-pings, 


HWANG-SHIH-KANG. — ITS  COMMERCIAL  ACTIVITY.  553 


who  held  it  off  and  on  until  they  were  finally  driven  away  about 
a  year  ago. 

A  little  beyond  the  city  we  passed  the  scene  of  a  bloody  fight 
between  the  rebels  and  imperialists  in  1854,  of  which  our  pilot 
gave  us  a  most  animated  description ;  according  to  him,  the  former 
were  beaten,  forced  into  the  river,  and  upward  of  20,000  drowned 
or  otherwise  destroyed. 

In  the  afternoon  we  passed  the  precipitous  bluff  Taou-tse-fuh, 
rising  in  an  unbroken  wall  to  the  height  of  500  feet  out  of  the 
water.  Behind  it,  a  magnificent  mountain  range  displayed  scenes 
of  great  grandeur  and  picturesque  beauty.  A  Chin-chai,  or  man¬ 
darin  of  high  degree,  followed  by  a  train  of  boats,  passed  us  in  the 
largest  river-junk  I  have  yet  seen,  handsomely  decorated,  and 
with  the  usual  display  of  gongs,  umbrellas,  and  banners.  He  was 
probably  on  his  way  “to  restore  confidence.”  We  reached  the 
important  market-town  of  Hwang-shih-kang,  or  “Yellow  Stone” 
— probably  so  called  from  the  quarries  in  the  neighborhood — in 
time  to  explore  it  before  dark.  A  splendid  river-wall  of  sand¬ 
stone,  surmounted  by  a  handsome  balustrade,  gave  the  place  a 
most  imposing  appearance.  The  water  was  so  deep  that  we  were 
compelled  to  anchor  close  to  the  junks,  which  were  made  fast  to 
the  shore.  A  dense  crowd  came  pouring  out  of  the  gate,  and 
down  to  the  water’s  edge,  as  the  huge  triton  took  up  its  position 
among  the  minnows,  and  commenced  blowing  off  steam  in  a  man¬ 
ner  calculated  to  confirm  the  impression  that  we  had  arrived  di¬ 
rect  from  the  infernal  regions. 

It  was  almost  impossible  to  step  on  shore  out  of  the  boats,  so 
closely  had  the  people  packed  themselves  into  the  river  itself. 
On  entering  the  town,  we  were  surprised  at  the  universal  cleanli¬ 
ness  of  the  streets,  and  the  superiority  of  the  shops,  generally, 
over  any  we  had  yet  discovered  at  other  towns  on  the  river.  The 
numerous  junks  moored  before  it  gave  evidence  of  a  high  degree 
of  commercial  activity :  this  general  air  of  prosperity  and  opu¬ 
lence  was  the  more  striking,  as  it  was  quite  unexpected,  and  con¬ 
trasted  so  strongly  with  all  that  had  previously  come  within  the 
range  of  our  observation.  The  surrounding  country  produces 
great  quantities  of  cotton ;  as  much  as  800,000  taels  worth  of  this 
article,  unmanufactured,  is  transported  annually  to  Chang-sha,  the 
capital  of  Hoonan.  Indigo  is  also  largely  grown  in  the  neighbor¬ 
hood  ;  and  we  inspected  the  process  of  rolling  the  newly-dyed  cot¬ 
ton  with  gigantic  stone  rollers,  worked  partly  by  the  feet  and  part- 


554  WHITE  TORTOISE  ISLAND.— CITY  OF  IIWANG-CHOW. 


ly  by  machinery.  The  raw  cotton,  of  which  I  got  some  specimens, 
seemed  short  in  the  staple.  Superior  hemp  is  imported  from 
Hing-kwoh,  a  town  not  many  miles  distant,  while  coal  is  procured 
from  a  mine  only  five  miles  off.  Neither  tea  nor  silk  were  culti¬ 
vated  here,  but  a  considerable  trade  is  carried  on  in  grain.  I  saw 
in  the  shops  some  gray  Manchester  calicoes  and  Dutch  velveteens. 
The  process  of  investigation  in  a  Chinese  city  is  never  very  agree¬ 
able  ;  but  here,  although  the  crowd  was  respectful,  it  was  so  high¬ 
ly  perfumed,  and  so  pressing  in  its  attentions,  that  we  were  glad 
to  get  down  to  our  boats  once  more,  and  breathe  fresh  air. 

The  immunity  which  Hwang-shih-kang  has  enjoyed  from  rebel 
violence  is  probably  due  chiefly  to  the  absence  of  any  wall  or  for¬ 
tification,  which  could  render  it  a  valuable  position  in  a  military 
point  of  view. 

3 d.  In  consequence  of  the  intricacy  of  the  navigation,  our  prog¬ 
ress  to-day  was  slow.  Lakes  were  visible  on  both  sides,  and  pret¬ 
ty  broken  country  to  the  south,  with  occasional  bluffs,  and  distant 
ranges.  The  river  still  averages  upward  of  a  mile  in  breadth.  In 
the  afternoon  we  passed  W oo-chang-hsien,  a  walled  town  with  two 
seven-storied  pagodas,  a  lake  at  the  back,  some  fine  ranges  beyond, 
two  very  picturesque  gates,  and  a  great  crowd  staring  at  us  from 
the  bank.  The  town  itself  seems  in  good  preservation,  probably 
because  the  rebels  evacuated  it,  and  made  Hwang-chow  their  mil¬ 
itary  position.  A  rock  rising  out  of  the  stream  here  is  called 
Peh-kwei,  or  White  Tortoise  Island.  The  name  is  derived  from 
a  fable,  to  the  effect  that  a  soldier  was  once  pursued  by  his  ene¬ 
mies  to  this  island,  and  to  escape  them  leaped  into  the  river,  when 
one  of  the  huge  tortoises  lying  near  the  shore  took  him  upon  his 
spacious  back  and  carried  him  safely  to  the  opposite  bank. 

About  two  miles  higher  up  is  situated  the  district  city  of 
Hwang-chow.  It  boasts  the  finest  pagoda  on  the  river,  which,  in 
spite  of  rebel  occupation,  remains  in  a  state  of  excellent  preserva¬ 
tion.  An  imperialist  army  was  encamped  under  the  walls,  and  a 
fleet  of  war-junks  moored  to  the  shore.  The  appearance  of  this 
combined  land  and  river  force  was  most  picturesque.  The  white 
tents  and  bright  flags ;  the  horses  picketed  in  groups,  and  the  men 
clustering  into  masses  in  rude  parade ;  the  gay  junks,  each  with 
its  special  device,  formed  a  striking  scene.  Here  is  a  gorgeous 
barge  bearing  on  its  flag,  “The  Leader  of  the  Hoonan  Braves 
and  here  another,  “  The  Commissary  General  of  the  Flying  Camps 
of  Iloopeh.” 


PROVINCE  OF  HOOPEH.  555 

The  walls  of  Hwang-chow  inclose  the  usual  howling  waste. 
The  city  was  abandoned  by  the  rebels  about  two  years  ago. 

We  ran  our  nose  upon  a  sand-bank  a  few  miles  above  Hwang- 
chow,  and  occupied  the  whole  of  the  remainder  of  the  day  in  fruit¬ 
less  efforts  to  find  a  channel. 

4zth.  We  spent  almost  the  whole  of  to-day  at  anchor  in  one  spot, 
the  gun-boats  channel-hunting.  The  difficulties  in  the  navigation 
are  now  so  numerous  that  we  almost  despair  of  forcing  the  old 
ship  another  hundred  miles  up  the  river. 

It  is,  however,  some  satisfaction  to  feel  that  we  have  reached 
Hoopeh,  one  of  the  central  provinces  of  the  empire.  “  This  prov¬ 
ince,”  says  the  Chinese  Repository,  “  enjoys  so  many  advantages  of 
temperature,  climate,  fertile  soil,  navigable  rivers,  and  beautiful 
lake  and  mountain  scenery,  that  it  is  called  the  granary  of  the 
empire.”  Our  own  experience  fully  confirms  the  latter  part  of 
this  description.  Since  entering  the  province,  some  lake  or  other 
had  always  been  visible  from  the  cross-trees. 

The  Liang- tze,  which  we  saw  yesterday,  is  connected  with  the 
Ax  Lake  by  a  conduit  forming  a  communication  across  the  bend 
of  the  Ta-kiang  at  this  place.  The  population  of  Hoopeh  is  es¬ 
timated  at  27,000,000 ;  its  area  is  double  that  of  England  with¬ 
out  Wales.  The  signification  of  the  term  Hoopeh  is  “North  of 
the  Lakes.”  P£re  Hue  describes  it  as  being  in  many  respects  in¬ 
ferior  to  Sz-chuen.  The  soil  is  somewhat  sterile,  though  covered 
with  numbers  of  lagoons  and  marshes,  from  which  the  Chinese,  in 
spite  of  their  patient  industry,  can  extract  but  little  utility ;  the 
villages,  in  consequence,  present  an  appearance  of  misery  and  suf¬ 
fering.  The  vegetable  productions  are  bread-stuffs,  silk,  cotton, 
tea,  and  timber ;  it  possesses  extensive  mineral  resources,  and 
produces  gold,  silver,  tin,  iron,  mica,  copperas,  crystal,  marble,  ar- 
gillate,  etc.  Its  manufactures  are  bamboo  paper,  wax-cloth,  crys¬ 
tal  and  other  ornaments,  which  are  famed  throughout  the  empire. 

Hoopeh  is  also  celebrated  as  the  province  which  gave  birth  to 
Laoutz’,  a  philosopher  of  scarcely  less  repute  than  Confucius. 
He  was  born  fifty -four  years  before  Confucius,  and  is  believed  to 
have  had  white  hair  and  eyebrows  at  his  birth,  and  to  have  been 
carried  in  the  womb  eighty  years,  whence  he  was  called  Laoutz’, 
or  “  The  Old  Boy,”  and  afterward  Lankiun,  or  “  The  Venerable 
Prince.”  He  was  the  founder  of  the  sect  of  the  Eationalists,  or 
Tau-kia,  and  is  the  author  of  Tau-tih-king ,  or  a  “  Memoir  on  Rea¬ 
son  and  Virtue,”  which  is  the  text-book  of  his  disciples. 


556 


“THE  WHITE  TIGER  HILLS.” 


Late  in  the  afternoon  we  discovered  a  narrow  and  intricate 
passage  behind  a  low  island  covered  with  long  grass.  We  scraped 
so  close  under  the  high  river-bank  that  the  groups  of  peasantry, 
collected  upon  it  to  see  us  pass,  might  almost  have  jumped  upon 
our  decks.  I  landed  with  Wade  on  the  island  in  search  of  game, 
when  he  succeeded  in  bringing  down  a  fine  wild  goose  out  of  a 
flock  which  was  sailing  overhead. 

5th.  We  had  only  one  serious  difficulty  to-day,  and  made  good 
progress.  The  country  did  not  seem  so  thickly  inhabited  or  well 
peopled  as  the  district  through  which  we  had  just  passed:  in 
parts,  the  northern  bank  was  well  wooded  and  level,  with  occa¬ 
sional  lakes  ;  to  the  south  it  was  more  broken ;  but  there  were  no 
hills  of  any  elevation.  The  “  White  Tiger  Hills,”  which  are  the 
most  remarkable  in  form,  jut  out  into  the  river,  but  are  not  above 
500  feet  above  it.  In  summer  large  tracts  of  country,  now  pasture- 
land,  must  be  under  water.  The  weather  is  getting  sensibly  cold¬ 
er.  It  hailed  last  night,  and  this  morning  I  observed  specks  of 
sleet. 

Though  nearly  five  hundred  miles  from  the  sea,  we  saw  por¬ 
poises  again  to-day,  called  by  the  Chinese  “  Cheang-choo-tsze.” 
They  use  the  oil  as  silk  dye.  Junks  and  rafts  are  more  numer¬ 
ous  than  formerly,  and  our  terrific  aspect  creates  invariably  so 
great  a  sensation  as  almost  to  stupefy  the  crews.  Not  only  must 
our  appearance,  but  our  ignorance,  astonish  them.  We  bawl  out 
for  information  about  lakes,  mountains,  and  cities,  to  them  well 
known,  but  of  the  names  of  which  our  pilot  is  as  ignorant  as  our¬ 
selves.  He  makes  up  for  this,  however,  by  the  energy  with  which 
he  shouts  his  queries  upon  all  sorts  of  subjects  to  the  passers-by. 
Thus  he  begins : 

“Hi,  on  the  raft  there — Ho,  father!”  The  only  response  is  a 
vacant  stare. 

Pilot  again,  more  energetically :  “Hi!  Ho!  Ah!  Great  uncle!” 
This  more  remote  term  of  relationship  elicits  not  only  a  stare,  but 
a  prolonged  “  a-a-a-a,”  not  unlike  the  bleating  of  an  asthmatic 
sheep. 

Pilot,  getting  slightly  indignant,  becomes  even  less  affectionate, 
and  puts  his  question:  “Much-honored  relation,  do  you  hear, 
what  place  is  this  ?” 

Answer  from  the  much-honored  relation :  “  Ah-ah-ah,”  in  a  dif¬ 
ferent  cadence  from  before. 

Pilot,  angrily :  “Venerable  party,  I  ask  you  what  place  this  is  ?” 


AN  UNSATISFACTORY  DIALOGUE.  557 

Venerable  party,  roused  at  last,  shouts,  and  points  up  the  river. 
He  says,  “  It’s  all  right;  go  on.” 

Pilot,  now  thoroughly  exasperated,  suddenly  substitutes  abusive 
for  polite  epithets ;  he  rolls  these  out  with  great  volubility,  work¬ 
ing  up  the  last  syllable  to  a  high  key,  and  dwelling  upon  it  long, 
with  great  vigor  and  bitterness  of  expression,  thus:  “  Oh,  you  old 
addle-pated,  thick-skulled,  noodle-oodle  oodle-o-o-o-o-o,  I  did  not 
ask  you  whether  it  was  all  right,  but  the  name.” 

Answer:  “  Oh-ah-oh,  the  name  of  the  town — the  name  of  the 
town — oh-ah-oh,  the  name  of  the  town  you  want  to  know  ?  The 
town’s  name  is — ” 

Pilot :  “  And  what  is  the  name  of  the  lake?” 

Answer:  “  There  is  no  lake.” 

Pilot :  “I  tell  you  there  is  a  lake.” 

Answer:  “A  lake,  you  said;  oh-ah-oh,  is  there  a  lake?  no-oli  - 
no,  there  is  no  lake.”  And  so  on,  till  we  steam  ahead  again  in 
despair.  The  river  is  the  big  river  or  the  old  river,  and  the 
mountain  has  no  name,  and  never  had  one.  Occasionally,  when 
we  are  at  anchor,  some  of  these  boats  approach  us,  to  stare  more 
closely  at  our  huge  bulk;  then  the  pilot  becomes  friendly  and 
communicative.  “Come  up,”  he  says,  “and  see  a  little  of  the 
world.”  We  never  can  gather  from  these  visitors  any  idea  of  our 
distance  from  Han-kow.  The  nearer  we  approach  it,  the  greater 
the  number  of  “  le”  invariably  becomes,  which  are  still  to  be  trav¬ 
ersed. 

6  th.  The  Dove  was  sent  on  yesterday,  to  reach  Han-kow  if  pos¬ 
sible.  We  hoped  to  do  the  same,  but  our  departure  has  been  de¬ 
layed  by  a  dense  fog.  When  this  cleared  off,  we  saw  from  the 
cross-trees  a  vast  arable  plain,  extending  in  a  northerly  direction 
to  a  large  lake,  upon  which  we  could  distinguish  through  the  haze 
the  sails  of  distant  junks.  To  the  south  the  plain  was  intersected 
by  a  low  irregular  range,  apparently  densely  populated;  an  ex¬ 
tensive  lake  also  bounded  the  prospect  in  this  direction. 

The  well-cultivated  and  well-peopled  aspect  of  the  country  leads 
us  to  hope  that  we  are  approaching  a  large  town.  Gradually  the 
houses  line  the  banks,  and  kitchen-gardens,  neatly  fenced,  separ¬ 
ate  them  from  each  other.  Then  we  see  a  dense  mass  of  houses, 
and  a  hill  crowned  with  a  wall,  and  the  masts  of  many  junks; 
among  them  the  white  funnel  of  the  Dove,  and  we  know  that  the 
goal  is  reached  at  last,  and  that  the  toils  and  anxieties  of  a  month’s 
river  navigation  are  crowned  with  success. 


558 


FIRST  IMPRESSIONS  OF  HAN-KOW. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

First  Impressions  of  Ilan-kow. — Its  Resemblance  to  Nijni  Novgorod. — Our  first 
Landing. — An  orderly  Crowd. — Plan  of  Han-kow. — View  of  Wo-chang  and  Han¬ 
yang. — Population  of  these  Cities. — Manufacture  of  Bamboo  Cables. — Price  of 
Manchester  Cottons. — Insect-wax. — The  Mode  of  its  Production. — Recent  Demo¬ 
lition  of  Han-kow. — Its  mixed  Population. — Mandarinic  Diplomacy. — Commer¬ 
cial  Investigations. — Difficulty  of  obtaining  Information. — A  Dialogue. — Com¬ 
merce  of  Han-kow. — The  Tea-producing  Districts. — A  Visit  to  Han-yang. — State¬ 
ments  of  Pere  Hue. 

The  general  appearance  of  the  celebrated  and  far-famed  mercan¬ 
tile  emporium  of  Ilan-kow,  as  seen  from  the  cross-trees  of  the  Fu¬ 
rious,  was  eminently  disappointing.  We  had  heard  so  much  of 
the  congeries  of  cities  that  are  situated  at  the  junction  of  the  Han 
and  the  Yang- tse — of  their  extent,  population,  and  commercial  ac¬ 
tivity — we  had  longed  so  eagerly  to  reach  them — had  doubted  so 
frequently  whether  we  should  ever  thus  be  gratified — that  we 
had  formed  grander  expectations,  and  anticipated  a  nobler  reward 
after  all  our  anxieties  and  exertions.  Still  it  was  pleasant,  after 
having  seen  nothing  but  ruins  and  heaps  of  brickbats,  as  supply¬ 
ing  the  places  of  populous  cities,  once  more  to  look  upon  teeming 
streets  and  an  animated  river,  even  though  on  a  smaller  scale  than 
we  had  been  led  to  suppose. 

In  the  situation  of  Han-kow  and  the  topographical  features  of 
the  surrounding  country  I  was  strongly  reminded  of  Nijni  Nov¬ 
gorod.  Han-kow  occupies  the  angle  formed  by  the  Han  and 
Great  River,  which  meet  at  right  angles.  On  the  opposite  or 
right  bank  of  the  Han  is  a  precipitous  range  of  hills,  crowned 
with  the  fortifications  of  the  now  ruined  city  of  Han-yang.  These 
correspond  to  the  Kremlin  of  Nijni,  while  Han-kow  answers  to 
the  fair.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  Yang-tse  is  the  important 
provincial  city  of  Wo-chang,  which  has  no  equivalent  on  the  banks 
of  the  Volga.  The  shape  of  Han-kow  is  an  acute-angled  triangle, 
the  base  of  which,  resting  on  the  Yang-tse,  is  a  mile  long,  while 
it  extends  for  about  two  miles  and  a  half  along  the  banks  of  the 
Han,  dwindling  away  almost  to  a  point.  Being  a  purely  com¬ 
mercial  city,  it  is  not  surrounded  by  walls  or  any  semblance  of 
fortification. 


OUR  FIRST  LANDING.— “DON’T  BE  AFRAID.” 


559 


The  Han,  which  is  the  first  important  tributary  that  the  Yang- 
tse  receives  (ascending  the  river),  varies  in  breadth  from  a  hund¬ 
red  to  a  hundred  and  fifty  yards,  and  is  a  much  less  imposing 
stream  than  was  to  have  been  expected  from  its  long  course,  and 
the  amount  of  traffic  which  is  carried  on  upon  its  waters.  Nu¬ 
merous  ferries  supply  the  place  of  any  bridge.  For  about  half  a 
mile  from  its  point  of  junction  with  the  parent  stream,  the  Han  is 
as  densely  crowded  with  junks  as  it  is  possible  to  pack  them; 
very  few,  however,  remain  moored  in  the  Yang-tse.  This  noble 
river  is  three  quarters  of  a  mile  wide  at  this  point;  and  imme¬ 
diately  off'  the  town  we  were  anchored  in  thirteen  fathoms  of  wa¬ 
ter,  and  this  at  a  distance  of  nearly  six  hundred  miles  from  the 
sea.  Meantime,  while  we  were  engaged  in  making  these  obser¬ 
vations,  the  crowd  became  denser,  the  river  more  alive  with  boats ; 
the  air  resounded  with  the  voices  of  thousands  of  persons  gazing 
eagerly  at  us,  and  expressing  their  wonder  in  confused  and  audi¬ 
ble  murmurs.  Presently  boat-loads  of  minor  officials  were  ob¬ 
served  sculling  about  among  the  aquatic  spectators,  apparently  to 
keep  order.  These  crammed  themselves  close  to  the  ship,  under 
her  bows,  stern,  and  quarters,  peering  in  at  the  port-holes,  and  feel¬ 
ing  her  sides,  as  though  to  see  what  she  was  made  of. 

We  now  determined  to  land,  and  thus  still  farther  to  gratify 
their  curiosity ;  accordingly,  we  steered  our  way  with  no  little 
difficulty  through  a  maze  of  boats  of  all  sorts  and  sizes,  and  filled 
with  all  classes  and  conditions  of  sight-seers,  to  a  landing-place 
from  which  a  flight  of  steps  led  up  into  the  town,  but  which  was 
now  so  crowded  with  human  beings  that  it  seemed  a  problem 
how  we  should  ever  succeed  in  forcing  our  way  through  them. 
We  no  sooner  stepped  ashore  than  a  lane  was  somewhat  precipi¬ 
tately  opened,  and  the  people  fell  back  almost  as  if  alarmed.  We 
found  the  streets  as  thronged  as  the  steps,  but  every  where  the 
crowd  made  way  respectfully ;  indeed,  it  was  rather  a  curious  il¬ 
lustration  of  the  moral  influence  exercised  by  the  presence  of  four 
foreign  ships  in  the  very  heart  of  the  empire,  that  we  should  trav¬ 
erse  the  streets  of  a  populous  city  not  only  unhindered  and  un¬ 
molested,  but  obliged  in  a  friendly  voice  to  exclaim  constantly, 
“  Puh,  pao!  puh,  pao!”  u  Don’t  be  afraid!  don’t  be  afraid!”  a 
most  condescending  piece  of  advice  for  a  handful  of  strangers  to 
give  to  a  million  of  people. 

The  streets  themselves  were  superior  to  any  I  had  seen  in  any 


560 


AN  ORDERLY  CROWD.— PLAN  OF  HAN-KOW. 


other  city  of  the  empire.  They  were  well  paved,  and  roofed 
over  with  mats  as  they  are  in  Persian  or  Egyptian  cities,  but  still 
broad  enough  to  be  bright  and  cheerful.  The  shops  were  well 
stocked,  and  upon  a  much  grander  and  handsomer  scale  than 
those  at  Canton  or  any  of  the  open  ports.  Foot-passengers,  wheel¬ 
barrows,  loaded  either  with  merchandise  or  people,  and  gentlemen 
of  substance  in  chairs,  crowded  the  thoroughfares.  W e  observed 
that  one  chair  followed  us  pertinaciously,  and  discovered  that  it 
contained  a  petty  mandarin,  who  had  either  assumed,  or  was  in¬ 
structed  to  perform,  the  office  of  spy.  When  we  objected  to  his 
surveillance,  he  assured  us  that  he  followed  us  purely  out  of  re¬ 
gard  for  our  safety,  and  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  the  crowd  in 
order.  Indeed,  he  soon  began  to  display  an  amount  of  vigor  in 
the  performance  of  this  duty  which  we  by  no  means  approved, 
getting  out  of  his  chair  whenever  we  entered  a  shop,  and  dispers¬ 
ing  the  crowd  which  naturally  collected  round  the  doorway  with 
violent  blows  of  his  whip.  As  this  was  a  mode  of  procedure  cal¬ 
culated  to  make  us  unpopular  with  the  people,  who  were  only 
manifesting  a  most  natural  and  harmless  curiosity,  we  remon¬ 
strated,  and  ultimately  succeeded  in  shaking  off  our  officious  at¬ 
tendant  ;  but  we  had  reason  to  suspect  that  his  conduct  was  in 
accordance  with  instructions  received  from  the  supreme  authority 
of  the  province.  We  were  soon  after  confirmed  in  this  view  by 
the  request  which  our  attendant  official,  Wang,  who  had  accom¬ 
panied  us  from  Shanghai,  made  the  same  day,  that  Lord  Elgin 
would  not  press  the  point  of  entering  the  provincial  city  of  Wo- 
chang,  or  of  calling  upon  the  governor  general. 

We  observed  proclamations  posted  up  in  various  parts  of  the 
town,  informing  the  people  of  the  intended  visit  of  foreigners  to 
their  city,  but  assuring  them  that  their  stay  was  to  be  a  short  one, 
and  not  for  commercial  purposes.  Nevertheless,  the  commonest 
query  among  those  of  the  crowd  who  were  bold  enough  to  ad¬ 
dress  us  was,  “What  have  you  got  to  sell,  and  when  are  you  com¬ 
ing  to  trade?” 

The  plan  of  Han-kow  is  very  simple.  Two  principal  arteries 
intersect  it  in  parallel  lines,  while  across  them  run  a  number  of 
curved  streets  about  equidistant  from  each  other.  After  we  had 
taken  a  cursory  view  of  the  town  and  its  shops — the  latter  we 
proposed  to  investigate  more  thoroughly — we  crossed  the  Han, 
and  proceeded  to  scramble  up  the  hill  on  its  opposite  bank.  The 


TA-PIEH. — VIEW  OF  WO-CHANG.  561 

tower  at  its  summit  was  probably  about  three  hundred  feet  above 
the  plain,  and  afforded  a  magnificent  and  extensive  prospect.  The 
hill  itself  was  called  Ta-pieh,  or  “  The  Great  Dividing  Mount.” 

At  our  feet  the  mighty  Yang-tse  rolled  its  yellow  tide  seaward, 
above  this  point  a  well-navigated  and  useful  stream,  but  hencefor¬ 
ward  to  flow  through  a  devastated  country,  and  bear  upon  its  bo¬ 
som  the  wreck  and  debris  of  those  populous  cities  whose  active 
commerce  once  gave  life  and  animation  to  its  now  deserted  waters. 
We  looked  down  upon  the  decks  of  our  own  ships,  riding  proud¬ 
ly  at  anchor  where  foreign  ships  had  never  lain  before,  towering 
above  the  black  mass  of  boats  that  crowded  round  them ;  nor  was 
it  possible  to  help  feeling  a  thrill  of  exultation  as  we  watched  the 
British  ensign  fluttering  for  the  first  time  in  the  very  heart  of  the 
empire. 

Facing  us  as  we  gazed  across  the  stream,  and  nobly  situated  on 
swelling  hills,  rose  from  the  water’s  edge  Wo-chang,  the  capital  of 
Idoopeh,  and  worthy  of  being  called  the  queen  of  Yang-tse.  Its 
hills,  terraced  with  houses  and  crowned  with  pagodas,  and  its 


Wo-chang. 


double  wall  lining  the  margin  of  the  river  with  towers,  gateways, 
and  bastions,  all  combine  to  give  it  an  imposing  and  majestic  ap¬ 
pearance.  It  was  not  until  we  entered  its  streets  that  the  delusion 

Nn 


562 


HAN-YANG. — HAN-IvOW. — POPULATION. 


vanished.  Now  it  was  a  charming  feature  in  the  view.  Beneath 
us,  on  our  right,  hemmed  in  by  two  steep  ridges,  along  which  ran  its 
turreted  walls,  is  the  departmental  city  of  Han-yang.  We  looked 
down  upon  its  deserted  streets,  its  roofless  houses,  crumbling  walls, 
and  grass-grown  courts.  Never  a  city  of  any  great  extent,  it  has 
suffered  severely  from  rebel  occupation,  and  forms  a  melancholy 
but  not  unpicturesque  feature  in  the  view. 

On  the  left,  in  strong  contrast  to  this  scene  of  desolation,  the 
crowded  mart  of  Han-kow  lay  spread  upon  the  plain  at  our  feet, 
while  the  Han,  teeming  with  its  boat  population,  was  lost  in  the 
distance,  its  winding  course  marked  by  the  sails  of  numerous  junks. 
A  setting  sun  shed  a  warm  glow  over  the  lakes  which  were  dot¬ 
ted  over  the  country  to  the  northward,  and  beyond  them  swelling 
hills  closed  this  magnificent  and  most  interesting  panorama. 

The  point  at  which  we  now  stood  enabled  us  to  see  at  a  glance 
the  extent  of  the  area  occupied  by  the  three  cities  of  Wo-chang, 
Han-yang,  and  Han-kow,  and  to  form  a  very  fair  estimate  of  their 
present  populations.  Hue,  who  merely  passed  through  the  two 
latter  cities,  and  does  not  seem  to  have  had  very  good  opportuni¬ 
ties  of  judging,  calculates  the  population  at  eight  millions.  With 
every  possible  allowance  for  the  faculty  which  the  Chinese  possess 
of  packing  closely,  I  do  not  think  that  it  was  practicable  to  have 
compressed  into  the  area  beneath  us  a  population  considerably 
greater  than  that  of  the  whole  of  Ireland.  W e  thought  that  we 
made  a  very  liberal  calculation  when  we  put  the  entire  population 
then  inhabiting  these  three  cities  at  one  million ;  but  we  saw  them, 
doubtless,’  under  a  very  great  disadvantage ;  the  area  strewn  with 
ruins  was  about  as  great  as  that  inhabited,  so  that  in  Hue’s  time 
these  cities  probably  contained  more  than  twice  their  present  num¬ 
ber  of  inhabitants :  perhaps  their  united  populations  may  have 
equaled  that  of  London,  but  certainly  never  exceeded  it. 

Meantime  a  number  of  Chinese  had  discovered  the  group  of 
foreigners  at  the  top  of  the  hill,  and  were  crowding  up  it ;  so  we 
thought  it  time  to  descend  from  our  exalted  position,  more  es¬ 
pecially  as  we  could  not  help  out  our  calculations  by  information 
derived  from  the  by-standers ;  for  when  we  asked  what  was  the 
number  of  persons  inhabiting  the  cities,  they  gave  us  the  usual 
Chinese  answer  on  such  occasions,  u  Many  myriads.” 

7th.  The  petty  mandarin,  Wang,  who  had  accompanied  us  from 
Shanghai,  and  had  yesterday  expressed  the  hope  that  Lord  Elgin 


BAMBOO  CABLE.— PRICE  OF  MANCHESTER  COTTONS.  563 

would  not  visit  the  governor  general  in  Wo-chang,  was  this  morn¬ 
ing  dispatched  to  that  city  with  a  note  to  his  excellency,  inform¬ 
ing  him  of  Lord  Elgin’s  intention  to  visit  him  to-morrow.  Some 
officers  from  some  of  the  ships  also  went  off  on  an  exploratory 
expedition  to  Wo-chang.  I  accompanied  Lord  Elgin  on  a  voyage 
of  discovery  to  the  left  bank,  with  a  view  of  making  more  minute 
investigations  into  the  contents  of  the  shops,  and  the  resources  of 
Han-kow  generally. 

We  had  been  struck,  when  on  board  the  ship,  by  a  number  of 
high  stages  like  watch-towers  erected  along  the  river  margin.  On 
closer  inspection  these  proved  to  be  bamboo-cable  manufactories. 
The  split  bamboo  is  collected  upon  a  stage  raised  thirty  or  forty 
feet  from  the  ground.  This  stage  is  of  very  small  dimensions — 
merely  affording  accommodation  to  a  single  man,  who  is  sheltered 
by  a  mat  roof.  The  process  of  plaiting  the  cable  takes  place  here, 
and  it  is  coiled  on  the  ground  below,  the  object  of  the  contrivance 
being  apparently  to  enable  one  man  unassisted  to  coil  and  dispose 
comfortably  of  so  unwieldy  an  article  as  a  six-inch  bamboo  cable. 
At  first  sight,  the  appearance  of  these  stages,  with  a  long  rope  de¬ 
pending  from  them,  was  most  mysterious  and  puzzling. 

It  was  Lord  Elgin’s  habit,  when  in  China,  to  lose  no  opportunity 
of  entering  into  personal  communication  with  the  people,  and  upon 
this  occasion  we  got  upon  intimate  terms  with  sundry  intelligent 
artisans  and  shopkeepers.  The  first  person  we  observed  whose 
occupation  arrested  our  attention  was  a  man  whose  arms  were  a 
brilliant  blue  as  far  as  his  elbows,  and  who  was  engaged  in  spread¬ 
ing  upon  the  grass  cloths  of  the  same  hue.  W e  found,  upon  a  closer 
inspection,  that  these  were  Manchester  cottons.  He  told  us  they 
cost  him  700  cash  a  chang.*  The  process  of  dyeing  them  cost 
200  cash  a  chang ;  so  that  the  entire  cost  of  Manchester  cotton, 
dyed  blue  in  China  for  clothing,  was  900  cash  a  chang,  or  about 
ninepence  halfpenny  a  yard.  Cotton  used  for  the  same  purpose, 
of  Chinese  manufacture,  of  one  third  the  width,  was  worth  200 
cash  a  chang,  making  it,  after  estimating  the  difference  in  width, 
100  cash  cheaper  than  British. 

The  indigo,  which  was  the  dye  used,  is  grown  in  large  quanti¬ 
ties  in  the  immediate  neighborhood.  It  is  also  extensively  culti¬ 
vated  in  Kwei-chau.  Some  of  the  cotton  was  being  dyed  green. 
This  is  a  cheaper  dye  than  indigo,  and  prepared  from  two  kinds 

*  4  yards = one  chang;  288  cash = one  shilling. 


564 


INSECT-WAX:  THE  MODE  OF  ITS  PRODUCTION. 


of  bark.  We  entered  the  bouse,  and  saw  tbe  boiling  process  go¬ 
ing  on.  One  species  of  bark  is  called  Tung-leu,  and  is  grown  in 
Cbang-teb;  the  other,  Sh wing-chin.  The  cloth  is  washed  in  a 
mixed  infusion  of  these  twice  a  day — in  the  case  of  native  cotton, 
for  live  days,  and  in  that  of  long  cloths,  for  ten  days. 

We  also  inspected  the  manufacture  of  a  species  of  native  cotton 
velvet.  The  cotton  cloth/ is  stretched  and  scraped  with  a  horse¬ 
hair  brush  into  a  sort  of  long  plush ;  it  is  then  prepared  with  a 
peculiar  leaf,  an  infusion  of  which  poured  over  it  gives  it  a  curly 
woolen  appearance. 

The  most  interesting  subject  of  our  investigations,  however,  was 
the  Peh-lah,  or  insect-wax,  of  which  we  saw  large  quantities  ex¬ 
posed  for  sale  in  the  tallow-chandlers’  shops.  It  is  usually  sold 
in  blocks  shaped  like  cheeses,  and,  when  broken,  presents  a  flaky, 
crystalline  appearance  not  unlike  spermaceti.  When  we  went 
into  the  tallow-chandler’s  back  shop,  or  rather  candle  manufactory, 
we  discovered  one  of  its  principal  uses.  The  vegetable  tallow  of 
which  candles  are  usually  made  melts  with  great  facility  ;  in  or¬ 
der,  therefore,  to  prevent  them  from  running,  they  are  coated  with 
a  thin  crust  of  finest  wax :  this  is  extremely  hard,  and  slow  to 
melt,  so  that  it  retains  the  vegetable  tallow  in  a  liquid  state,  and 
is  a  clean  and  economical  ingredient. 

While  we  were  in  vain  endeavoring  to  extract  some  precise 
data  from  the  shopkeeper  as  to  the  source  of  supply  of  this  singu¬ 
lar  production,  a  man  in  the  crowd  volunteered  the  information. 
It  was,  he  said,  the  article  in  which  he  traded.  The  province  in 
which  it  was  produced  was  Sz’-chuen;  but,  singular  to  state,  al¬ 
though  the  peculiar  tree  necessary  to  the  sustenance  of  the  insect 
would  thrive  there,  it  was  found  necessary  to  keep  up  the  supply 
of  insects  by  the  constant  importation  of  eggs  from  beyond  the 
western  frontier  of  the  province.  He  had  constantly  been  engaged 
in  these  expeditions.  He  described  the  insect  as  being  about  an 
inch  in  length,  and  of  a  pale  gray  color.  The  tree  on  which,  ac¬ 
cording  to  our  authority,  it  feeds  exclusively,  is  called  the  Peh-lah- 
shuh.  One  insect  is  considered  to  have  performed  his  part  cred¬ 
itably  if  he  exudes  one  ounce  of  wax  in  the  season.  This  lasts 
only  during  the  summer  months.  The  insect  is  not  affected  by 
rain  or  weather,  but  when  the  leaves  fall  it  dies.  The  wax  is  then 
collected,  and  melted  in  a  cloth  over  boiling  water.  It  is  of  the 
purest  white.  On  the  large  cakes  hanging  in  the  grocers’  and  tal- 


RECENT  DEMOLITION  AND  RESUSCITATION  OF  HAN-KOW.  505 

low-chandlers’  shops  at  Han-kow  we  often  observed  the  inscrip¬ 
tion  written,  “It  mocks  at  the  frost,  and  rivals  the  snow.”  The 
price  was  forty  dollars  a  picul,  or  about  fifteen  pence  a  pound. 

We  were  gratified  on  observing,  in  some  of  the  shops,  well- 
known  British  stamps,  proving  that  the  manufactures  of  our  own 
country  were  at  last  beginning  to  find  their  way  into  the  empire. 
We  asked  the  price  of  some  ladies’  superfine  habit-cloth,  and 
found  it  five  taels  and  a  half  a  chang,*  or  about  six  shillings  a 
yard. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  native-grown  opium  was  freely  ex¬ 
posed  for  sale  in  the  streets. 

The  fur-shops  of  Han-kow  were  numerous  and  well-stocked. 
The  winter  supply  had  evidently  just  come  in,  and  some  of  the 
most  expensive  and  rare  furs  from  the  province  of  Shansi  and  the 
Thibetian  frontier  were  to  be  procured  here  at  the  usual  fabulous 
prices.  Our  searches  for  old  china,  bronzes,  and  curiosities  proved 
vain.  Han-kow  was  apparently  too  practical  a  place  to  offer  at¬ 
tractions  to  dilettanti ;  and  there  was  a  stir  and  movement  in  the 
streets  which  betokened  great  mercantile  activity.  We  could 
scarcely  credit  the  fact  that  only  two  years  and  four  months  ago 
this  bustling  city  had  been  leveled  to  the  ground.  Many  of  the 
townspeople,  whom  we  questioned  on  the  subject,  assured  us  that 
not  a  stone  had  been  left  standing  upon  another,  so  completely 
had  the  rebels  demolished  the  shops  and  houses,  after  having  ri¬ 
fled  them  of  their  contents. 

No  stronger  proof  could  be  afforded  of  the  vitality  of  trade  at 
this  point,  and  of  its  importance  as  a  commercial  centre,  than  the 
marvelous  resuscitation  of  Han-kow.  In  every  direction  houses 
were  being  built  and  new  shops  opened.  An  additional  stimulus 
was  doubtless  afforded  by  the  stagnation  of  the  past  two  years, 
the  unavoidable  result  of  rebel  proximity.  Now,  however,  those 
“  troublesome  pests”  were  removed  to  a  greater  distance,  and  the 
chances  of  their  revisiting  Han-kow  were  sufficiently  remote  to 
encourage  the  people  to  re-establish  themselves,  though  a  marked 
disinclination  was  always  evinced  to  allude  to  the  “long-haired 
men,”  as  the  rebels  were  invariably  called.  Whenever  they  were 
mentioned,  the  cautious  Chinaman  was  always  on  his  guard  against 
saying  any  thing  which  might  be  hereafter  brought  up  against 
him  as  an  evidence  of  hostility  to  the  revolutionary  cause.  It 

*  1200  to  1400  cash = one  tael. 


566  POPULATION  FLUCTUATING.—  MANDAEINIC  DIPLOMACY. 

was  remarkable  that  at  Han-kow  all  the  little  shrines  in  the  pri¬ 
vate  houses  and  verandas  were  empty.  Generally,  in  a  Chinese 
town,  the  Lares  and  Penates  of  the  householder  are  in  these  re¬ 
cesses,  and  joss-sticks  burn  before  small  images.  Now  there  was 
not  one  to  be  seen,  in  deference,  doubtless,  to  the  iconoclastic 
propensities  of  the  “  long-haired  men.”  The  only  sacred  edifice 
which  we  observed  in  process  of  restoration  at  Han-kow  was  the 
Temple  of  Longevity,  in  which  the  emperor’s  birthday  is  cele¬ 
brated. 

Like  great  marts  which  partake  in  some  measure  of  the  nature 
of  fairs,  the  population  of  Han-kow  is  both  varied  and  fluctuating. 
At  certain  seasons  of  the  year  traders  from  Ili,  Kobdo,  and  other 
parts  of  Thibet  visit  Han-kow,  their  marked  Tartar  features  and 
turbaned  heads  distinguishing  them  from  the  Chinese.  In  no 
other  city  of  the  empire  have  I  seen  so  great  a  variety  of  type 
of  feature.  There  is,  of  course,  the  general  character  which  dis¬ 
tinguishes  the  Mongol  in  them  all ;  but,  though  flat  noses  and  ob¬ 
lique  eyes  are  universal,  yet  it  is  scarcely  conceivable  how  many 
distinct  varieties  of  flat  noses  and  oblique  eyes  there  may  be. 
Then,  besides  this,  the  shades  of  complexion,  though  they  are  all 
of  a  copper  tinge,  are  very  different.  Han-kow,  being  simply  a 
mercantile  emporium,  comprises  in  its  population  a  much  larger 
proportion  of  males  to  females  than  is  to  be  found  in  Chinese 
cities  generally.  This  is  easily  accounted  for  by  the  fact  of  so 
many  of  its  inhabitants  being  merely  visitors. 

W e  were  unable  to  make  any  purchases  to-day,  as  the  officials, 
with  a  view  of  discouraging,  as  much  as  possible,  our  supposed 
trading  propensities,  had  forbidden  the  people  to  take  our  money. 
To  such  an  extent  was  this  carried,  that  all  the  dollars  which  had 
been  expended  for  ships’  stores,  and  which  had  been  readily  taken 
by  the  people  before  the  order  was  issued,  were  brought  on  board 
by  the  authorities  this  afternoon,  who  wished  to  return  them. 
Lord  Elgin,  however,  steadily  declined  to  accept  any  thing  with¬ 
out  paying  for  it,  and  refused  sheep,  cattle,  etc.,  which  were  press¬ 
ed  upon  him,  unless  allowed  to  give  their  full  value  in  return. 
It  was  not  difficult  to  see  through  the  shallow  diplomacy  of  the 
mandarins,  and  to  perceive  that  their  object  was  to  prevent,  as 
much  as  possible,  all  intercourse  with  the  people,  who  were  only 
too  anxious  to  be  upon  the  most  intimate  terms  with  us. 

W e  had  a  still  stronger  proof  of  this  determination  in  the  after- 


COMMERCIAL  INVESTIGATIONS. 


567 


noon,  when  the  party  returned  from  Wo-chang  after  an  ineffectual 
attempt  to  enter  the  city.  They  had  been  refused  entrance  by  the 
guards  at  the  gate  with  some  rudeness,  and  altogether  treated  in 
a  manner  somewhat  at  variance  with  the  tone  which  the  commis¬ 
sioners  at  Shanghai  had  manifested  during  our  intercourse,  and 
which  was  at  that  time  supposed  to  be  the  tone  of  the  government 
generally. 

8  th.  Although  the  authorities  were  by  no  means  in  that  frame 
of  mind  to  which  it  was  desirable  they  should  be  brought,  the 
governor  general  scarcely  ventured  to  refuse  to  see  Lord  Elgin. 
Wang  therefore  returned  late  last  night  with  a  message  from  the 
governor  general  to  the  effect  that  he  would  be  prepared  to  re¬ 
ceive  a  visit  from  the  British  plenipotentiary,  and  this  morning  a 
special  messenger  arrived  to  make  arrangements  for  the  ceremony, 
which  is  to  take  place  to-morrow  at  two  o’clock.  Meantime  I 
went  with  Mr.  Lay  on  another  tour  of  commercial  investigation, 
but  upon  this  occasion  we  confined  ourselves  to  the  waters  of  the 
Han. 

The  junks  were  moored  side  by  side  to  each  bank  of  the  river 
as  closely  as  it  was  possible  to  pack  them,  leaving  only  a  narrow 
fairway  down  the  centre  of  the  stream.  You  could  walk  for 
hundreds  of  yards  from  the  deck  of  one  to  that  of  another,  in¬ 
specting  the  cargo  of  each,  and  cross-examining  her  owner  or 
captain  as  you  did  so. 

The  construction  of  these  junks  varied  according  to  the  district 
to  which  they  belonged.  Many  of  them  had  descended  the  Yang- 
tse-Kiang,  or  some  of  its  tributaries,  for  upward  of  a  thousand 
miles.  Some  were  long  narrow  craft,  pointed  both  at  stem  and 
stern ;  others  were  turned  up  in  the  bows  like  a  Turkish  slipper, 
or  built  like  an  old  Dutch  lugger  with  a  swelling  bosom.  Many 
of  them  were  handsomely  fitted  up  with  cabins,  apparently  for  the 
accommodation  of  passengers  as  well  as  cargo;  others  were  filth¬ 
ily  dirty,  and  afforded  shelter  only  to  a  greasy  skipper  and  still 
more  greasy  crew. 

It  is  a  melancholy  admission  to  be  obliged  to  make,  that  after 
all  our  trouble  we  did  not  succeed  in  obtaining  any  very  reliable 
information.  Had  we  been  contented  to  believe  what  the  first 
glib  Chinaman  chose  to  tell  us,  we  might  have  returned  well  sup¬ 
plied  with  facts ;  but,  unfortunately,  the  more  we  prosecuted  our 
researches,  the  more  difficult  did  it  become  to  know  what  to  be- 


568 


A  DIALOGUE. 


lieve,  as  we  never  succeeded  in  getting  two  people  to  agree  upon 
any  one  point,  however  simple,  and,  one  should  suppose,  unsus¬ 
ceptible  of  dispute.  This  did  not  arise  from  any  desire  to  mis¬ 
lead  ;  on  the  contrary,  the  people  invariably  manifested  the  ut¬ 
most  willingness  to  impart  all  the  information  in  their  power; 
they  seemed  highly  gratified  at  the  interest  we  took  in  the  sub¬ 
ject,  and  were  evidently  most  anxious  that  we  should  be  induced 
to  come  and  trade  with  them.  The  great  difficulty  was  to  pre¬ 
vent  them  from  all  speaking  at  once,  and  induce  them  to  give  di¬ 
rect  or  intelligible  answers  to  very  plain  questions. 

For  instance,  it  was  hopeless  to  expect  them  to  comprehend 
any  inquiry  which  presupposed  any  premises  whatever.  You 
could  not  begin  by  asking  where  silk  was  grown.  The  introduc¬ 
tion  necessary  to  arrive  at  this  result  is  the  incontrovertible  state¬ 
ment,  “  There  is  such  a  thing  as  silk.” 

Chinaman  repeats  eagerly,  “There  is  such  a  thing  as  silk;  oh 
yes  ;  ah !  there  is  such  a  thing  as  silk.” 

“  Silk  grows  in  some  provinces ;  in  some  it  does  not.” 

Chinaman  repeats,  thoughtfully,  “Yes,  silk  grows  in  some  prov¬ 
inces  ;  in  some  it  does  not.” 

By-standers,  who  have  taken  up  the  idea  with  greater  rapidity, 
remark  to  one  another,  “Ah!  true;  in  some  provinces  silk  does 
not  grow.” 

“Does  this  province  produce  silk?” 

“Yes.” 

“Does  Sz’chuen  produce  silk?” 

“No.” 

“  Then  do  you  carry  silk  to  Sz’ckuen  ?” 

“No.” 

“What  do  you  carry  to  Sz’chuen ?” 

Chinaman  repeats,  puzzled,  “What  do  I  carry  to  Sz’chuen?” 

By-standers  all  repeat,  vivaciously,  “  What  do  you  carry  to 
Sz’chuen  ?” 

Chinaman :  “  Sometimes  I  carry  silk  to  Sz’chuen,  and  some¬ 
times  I  carry  cotton.” 

“Does  cotton  grow  in  Sz’chuen?” 

“  Yes.” 

“  And  yet  you  carry  cotton  to  Sz’chuen?” 

“Oh!  sometimes  I  bring  cotton  here  from  Sz’chuen.” 

By-standers,  unanimously:  “Sometimes  he  brings  cotton  here 
from  Sz’chuem” 


COMMERCE  OF  HAN-KOW,  HOONAN,  AND  SZ’CHUEN.  569 

And  so  on  until  one’s  patience  is  fairly  exhausted,  and  one 
wonders  wherein  the  indisputable  intelligence  of  a  Chinaman  con¬ 
sists,  and  how  it  happens  that,  notwithstanding  his  utter  inability 
to  stand  cross-examination  upon  the  subject  with  which  he  is  most 
familiar,  he  excels  every  other  nation  in  his  instincts  for  develop¬ 
ing  the  internal  traffic  in  his  vast  and  productive  country. 

Fortunately,  most  of  these  junks  had  their  cargoes  on  board,  so 
we  could  judge  for  ourselves.  Those  laden  with  coal  formed  a 
large  proportion  of  the  fleet  then  at  anchor  in  the  river,  which 
were  principally  from  Hoonan.  We  shipped  coal,  some  of  a  good 
and  some  of  a  very  inferior  quality,  at  £2  95.  3d  a  ton.  The  best 
coal  comes  from  a  place  called  Ching-Leang.  Hoonan  also  sends 
to  Han-kow  quantities  of  oil  and  charcoal ;  also  hemp,  beans,  rice, 
and  grain.  In  fact,  Hoonan  seemed  to  produce  almost  every  thing 
but  cotton.  This  is  the  principal  production  of  Hoopeh,  and  it 
forms  the  bulk  of  the  cargoes  to  Hoonan  and  Sz’chuen.  W e  ar¬ 
rived  at  very  different  conclusions  with  reference  both  to  Hoonan 
and  Hoopeh  from  the  accounts  given  in  the  Chinese  Repository. 
According  to  that  very  trustworthy  authority,  the  external  traffic 
of  Hoonan  is  trifling,  but  our  observation  led  us  to  believe  that  it 
formed  the  principal  share  of  that  at  Han-kow ;  so  the  description 
of  Hoopeh  in  the  Repository  would  give  one  to  understand  that  it 
produced  almost  every  thing,  whereas,  except  cotton  and  tea,  we 
found  it  difficult  to  induce  our  j  unk  friends  to  name  a  product ; 
but  that  may  have  been  from  a  want  of  imagination  on  their 
part. 

Silk  seems  to  be  grown  in  the  Lotien  district,  and  some  of  a 
yellow  description  in  Ma-ching,  which  also  produces  gypsum  and 
some  indigo.  Shang-teh  produces  indigo  of  a  very  superior  de¬ 
scription. 

Sz’chuen  is  the  great  mineral-producing  province.  Tin,  lead, 
and  copper  come  from  the  capital,  Ching-tu.  The  best  sugar  is 
also  grown  in  Sz’chuen ;  and  indigo,  tobacco,  and  drugs  find  their 
way  down  the  Yang-tse  from  the  same  province. 

Tin  and  iron  of  a  superior  quality  are  found  at  Paouching. 

The  trade  from  Kwei-chau  and  Hoonan  did  not  seem  to  be 
very  extensive ;  the  latter  was  described  as  a  great  grazing  prov¬ 
ince,  exporting  cattle  and  hides.  Kiang-si  sends  its  quota  of 
grain  and  sugar,  but  is  more  especially  famous  for  its  porcelain. 

Last,  but  not  least,  we  come  to  that  most  important  product, 


570 


THE  TEA-PRODUCING  DISTRICTS. 


tea.  The  province  of  Hoopeh,  in  which  we  now  were,  is  supposed 
to  produce  the  finest  description  of  Congo.  This  is  known  in 
Canton  and  the  ports  as  Oopak  tea,  Oopak  being  the  Canton  pro¬ 
nunciation  of  Hoopeh ;  but  it  does  not  seem  necessarily  to  come 
from  this  province.  These  teas  are  also  grown  in  the  mountain¬ 
ous  province  of  Kwei-chau,  and  in  Hoonan.  The  best  Oopak  tea, 
however,  was  said  to  be  grown  in  the  district  of  Toong-shan,  in 
the  department  of  the  W o-chang. 

The  yellow  teas,  commonly  stated  to  be  exported  to  Eussia 
from  Hoopeh,  appear  to  be  grown  in  Hgan-hwui,  the  adjoining 
province. 

A  bitter  tea,  somewhat  resembling  our  own  strong  black  tea, 
which  we  tasted  afterward  on  the  occasion  of  our  visit  to  the 
governor  general,  and  which  was  served  immediately  after  din¬ 
ner,  instead  of  coffee,  as  a  digestive,  is  grown  only  at  a  place  call¬ 
ed  Pu-urh,  a  department  in  the  province  of  Yunan,  on  the  Laos 
frontier  and  Meikon  Biver.  This  tea  is  made  up  in  large  or 
small  circular  cakes,  according  to  its  quality.  It  is  very  expen¬ 
sive,  and  considered  the  most  recherche  thing  in  the  way  of  tea 
which  can  be  imbibed.  I  only  once  tasted  it  during  my  residence 
in  China.  There  are  two  descriptions  of  Hoopeh  tea,  which  are 
made  up  into  bricks  tightly  pressed,  and  present  somewhat  the 
appearance,  when  cut  transversely,  of  a  cake  of  cavendish  tobacco. 
I  bought  these  at  a  little  more  than  two  shillings  a  brick.  There 
can  be  no  doubt,  however,  that  the  finest  teas  grown  in  China  are 
those  of  Fukhien  and  Cheh-kiang,  which  already  compose  the 
principal  share  of  the  tea  exported  to  this  country. 

I  trust  that  the  above  very  prosaic  description  of  the  trade  of 
Han-kow  will  have  been  skipped  by  those  of  my  readers  who  are 
not  interested  in  our  commerce  with  China.  Those  who  are  must 
remember  the  uncertain  sources  from  which  it  was  derived,  and 
not  give  it  more  credit  than  it  deserves ;  the  chief  portion  of  it 
was  obtained  on  board  a  very  handsome  junk,  used  as  a  grain- 
store  and  agency.  The  heads  of  the  firm  happened  to  be  on 
board  at  the  period  of  our  visit,  and  regaled  us  with  tea  and  pipes. 
A  considerable  crowd  collected  before  we  had  been  there  many 
minutes,  and  when,  after  a  long  mercantile  discussion,  we  rose  to 
go  away,  and  bade  them  adieu,  hoping  that  when  they  next  saw 
Europeans  it  would  be  to  trade,  the  intimation  was  received  with 
a  noisy  acclamation,  as  nearly  approaching  a  cheer  as  could  be 


A  VISIT  TO  HAN-YANG.— STATEMENTS  OF  PERE  HUC.  571 


expected  of  a  Chinaman.  I  have  inserted  in  the  Appendix  a 
list  of  prices  procured  by  Captain  Osborn  at  Han-kow,  with  which 
he  has  kindly  furnished  me. 

We  occupied  the  afternoon  in  exploring  Han-kow  to  its  farther 
extremity,  reaching,  after  a  walk  of  about  two  miles,  the  open 
country.  There  we  impressed  our  visit  upon  the  memories  of  a 
noisy  rabble  of  urchins  who  followed  by  giving  them  a  scramble 
for  cash,  under  cover  of  which  we  effected  our  escape  into  a  ferry¬ 
boat,  and  crossed  the  Han  with  a  view  of  visiting  the  interior  of 
the  city  of  Han-yang.  It  is  surrounded  by  a  massive,  well-built 
wall  in  good  repair,  and  has  evidently  been  a  compact,  handsome 
city  of  small  dimensions,  probably  not  above  two  miles  in  circum¬ 
ference.  It  was  apparently  an  aristocratic,  quiet  place,  chiefly 
inhabited  by  officials  and  their  retainers,  and  containing  all  the 
departmental  public  buildings.  The  ruins  of  these  were  exten¬ 
sive.  Fragments  of  lions  and  dragons,  carved  in  granite  or  mar¬ 
ble,  lay  strewn  about  the  well-paved  streets.  Here  and  there,  a 
handsome  carved  granite  archway  still  spanned  the  principal 
thoroughfares;  but  they  were  more  often  prostrate  and  over¬ 
grown  with  weeds.  Some  were  undergoing  the  process  of  res¬ 
toration,  and  many  of  the  authorities  were  inhabiting  temporary 
abodes. 

The  scene  of  desolation  was  as  complete  here  as  elsewhere  after 
rebel  occupation,  and  presented  the  most  melancholy  traces  of  its 
former  grandeur.  Of  the  street  connecting  Han-yang  with  Han¬ 
kow,  and  which  must  be  upward  of  two  miles  in  length,  scarcely 
a  house  was  left  standing.  M.  Hue  says  that  he  took  an  hour  to 
traverse  the  long  streets  of  Han-yang.  This  is  probably  the  street 
to  which  he  refers,  as  there  is  no  street  inside  the  walls  of  Han¬ 
yang  upward  of  half  a  mile  long ;  but  the  Jesuit  missionary  is 
not  always  scrupulously  accurate  in  his  statements.  He  describes 
the  Yang-tse-Kiang  as  presenting  the  appearance  of  an  arm  of  the 
sea,  and  dangerous  to  cross,  though  wherein  the  danger  consists 
we  were  at  a  loss  to  discover. 

Again,  apparently  ignorant  of  the  existence  of  any  such  river 
as  the  Han,  M.  Hue  describes  Han-kow  as  situated  on  a  river  fall¬ 
ing  into  the  Yang-tse  almost  under  the  walls  of  W o-chang,  and 
translates  the  Chinese  name  Han-kow  by  “  Boucke  de  Commerce” 
instead  of  “  Bouche  de  Han,”  a  rendering  which,  if  it  has  not  the 
merit  of  being  a  translation,  is  at  least  descriptive  of  the  character 
of  this  great  mercantile  emporium. 


572 


FIRST  APPEARANCE  OF  STRANGERS. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

First  Appearance  of  Strangers. — Snipe-shooting  near  Han-kow. — A  Visit  to  the 
Governor  General. — External  Aspect  ofWo-chang. — Reception  by  the  Governor 
General. — A  magnificent  Repast. — The  return  Visit. — A  brilliant  Scene. — Inspec¬ 
tion  of  Midshipmen. — The  Brave  Army. — Their  singular  Uniform. — Panoramic 
View  of  Wo-chang. — Reasons  for  our  Return. — Subsidence  of  the  River. — A 
“Squeeze.” — Civility  of  the  rural  Population. — The  Lee  in  Trouble. — Lime- 
quarries. — Wild  Scenery. — Deep  Water. 

December  9.  Lord  Elgin  having  still  reason  to  be  dissatisfied 
with  the  tone  maintained  by  the  officials,  and  the  determination 
apparently  evinced  by  them  to  prevent  our  making  purchases  of 
the  most  trifling  character,  sent  Messrs.  Wade  and  Lay  over  to 
Wo-chang  in  the  Cruiser  with  a  rather  tart  message,  postponing 
his  visit  to  that  high  functionary. 

The  Cruiser  consequently  shifted  her  berth,  and  took  up  a  po¬ 
sition  immediately  facing  the  principal  entrance  to  the  city.  This 
demonstration  produced  the  desired  effect.  Messrs.  Wade  and 
Lay  were  received  with  the  utmost  politeness,  and  the  restrictions 
of  which  we  complained  were  at  once  removed. 

In  the  afternoon  I  had  an  opportunity  of  testing  the  good  dis¬ 
positions  of  the  peasantry  toward  foreigners.  In  company  with 
Lieutenant  Xott,  of  the  Royal  Marine  Artillery,  I  walked  to  a 
distance  of  four  or  five  miles  from  the  ships  to  a  charming  lake 
which  we  discovered  lying  embosomed  among  the  hills  in  the 
distance.  The  rumor  that  barbarian  ships  were  at  Han-kow  may 
have  reached  the  little  village  lying  in  this  secluded  spot,  but 
certainly  no  specimen  of  the  mysterious  race  that  navigated  them 
had  ever  before  appeared  among  its  simple  inhabitants.  Children 
ran  crying  at  the  hideous  apparition  to  the  maternal  wing,  and 
doubtless  to  this  day  are  frightened  into  being  good  by  threats 
of  our  reappearance.  Laborers  suspended,  for  a  longer  interval 
than  is  usual  with  an  industrious  Chinaman,  their  avocations,  to 
gaze  and  wonder  at  the  two  curiously -clad  bipeds  who  seemed  to 
prefer  paddling  along  the  margin  of  the  lake  up  to  their  knees  in 
water  to  walking  on  the  dry  land.  Fishermen  in  boats  coasted 
near  us,  staring,  criticising,  and  marveling  at  our  conduct,  which, 


A  VISIT  TO  THE  GOVERNOR  GENERAL. 


573 


to  persons  innocent  of  the  existence  of  such  an  amusement  as 
snipe-shooting,  seemed  unaccountable ;  but  when  a  bird  fell  dead 
into  the  water  near  them,  their  astonishment  and  delight  were 
complete,  and  they  willingly  performed  the  office  of  retrievers 
without  an  idea  of  remuneration.  Their  good-nature  and  desire 
to  be  useful  were  unbounded,  and  we  had  no  difficulty  in  getting- 
ferried  about  the  lake  in  any  direction  our  fancy  prompted. 

We  only  succeeded  in  bagging  four  couple  of  snipe  and  a  hare, 
yet  we  were  well  repaid  for  the  expedition  by  the  beauty  of  the 
scenery  and  the  civility  of  the  people.  Though  it  was  late  before 
we  turned  our  steps  homeward,  and  we  were  five  miles  from  the 
ships,  and  quite  alone  among  this  race,  popularly  supposed  to  be 
so  inveterately  hostile  to  foreigners,  so  reassuring  was  the  manner 
of  the  people  that  we  were  under  no  alarm,  and  plodded  back  in 
the  dark  as  confidently  as  if  we  were  coming  home  from  the 
moors. 

On  our  homeward  voyage  I  was  constantly  out  shooting,  occa¬ 
sionally  at  a  considerable  distance  from  the  river,  and  invariably 
found  the  same  good-will  prevailing  on  the  part  of  the  country 
people.  Wherever  it  does  not  exist  the  influence  of  the  manda¬ 
rins  may  always  be  distinctly  traced. 

10th.  We  started  on  our  visit  to  the  governor  general  to-day  at 
1  P.M.  Our  party  was  a  large  one,  consisting  of  thirty  officers 
in  uniform,  besides  the  members  of  the  mission.  Forty  marines 
and  thirty  blue-jackets  formed  the  guard  of  honor.  As  the  Lee 
got  under  weigh  with  the  embassador  on  board,  the  heavy  guns 
of  the  Furious  and  Cruiser  thundered  out  such  a  salute  as  had 
never  before  resounded  through  the  crowded  streets  of  Han-kow, 
or  shaken  the  frame- works  of  its  wooden  houses.  A  dense  crowd, 
which  had  collected  on  the  water’s  edge  to  see  the  party  embark 
on  board  the  Lee,  incontinently  tumbled  over  one  another  in  their 
alarm  and  confusion,  and  haste  to  escape;  nor  was  it  till  some 
moments  had  elapsed  that  they  became  assured  of  the  harmless 
character  of  our  fire,  and,  laughing  at  their  own  fears,  returned  to 
their  old  position. 

We  were  soon  ferried  across  the  river  in  the  Lee,  and  found  a 
number  of  chairs  waiting  to  convey  us  through  the  streets,  and  a 
Chinese  guard  of  honor  drawn  up  at  the  landing-place.  As  we 
passed  through  the  city  gates,  we  observed  another  still  stronger 
guard  on  duty  there.  We  traversed  Wo-chang  for  at  least  a  mile 


574 


RECEPTION  BY  THE  GOVERNOR  GENERAL. 


and  a  half  before  we  reached  the  yamun  of  the  governor  general. 
The  main  street  was  the  handsomest  I  had  yet  seen  in  China, 
Probably  the  best  streets  in  Soochow  equal  it,  but  those  along 
which  I  passed  on  the  occasion  of  my  visit  to  that  city  were  cer¬ 
tainly  inferior  to  the  principal  thoroughfare  in  Wo-chang.  As 
our  procession  of  chairs,  marines,  and  blue-jackets  filed  along  it, 
the  crowds  drawn  up  on  each  side  were  quiet  and  respectful, 
though  intensely  curious,  gazing  fixedly  into  each  chair  as  it  pass¬ 
ed,  as  though  determined  that  the  lineaments  of  its  occupant 
should  be  photographed  upon  their  minds. 

A  hill  terraced  with  houses  intersects  the  city.  The  main  street, 
however,  tunnels  under  this,  and  the  shops  continue  through  the 
tunnel :  indeed,  the  finest  part  of  the  street  is  at  the  entry  to  this 
interesting  specimen  of  Chinese  engineering.  The  shops  here  are 
better  supplied,  and  there  is  a  life  and  gayety  which  the  rest  of 
the  town  does  not  present :  indeed,  it  is  slowly  recovering  from 
the  effects  of  prolonged  rebel  occupation.  W e  crossed  large  areas 
of  desolation  on  our  way  to  the  yamun,  but  we  had  better  oppor¬ 
tunities  of  judging  of  their  extent  upon  a  future  occasion. 

The  yamun  itself  seems  to  have  been  spared  by  the  insurgents, 
for  it  was  a  handsome  edifice,  in  good  repair.  We  were  received, 
on  entering,  with  the  usual  salutes  and  discordant  music,  and 
found  the  governor  general  standing  at  the  door  of  the  inner 
court,  surrounded  by  a  brilliaut  staff,  waiting  to  receive  Lord  El¬ 
gin.  I  had  never  before  seen  such  a  splendid  gathering  of  Chi¬ 
nese  mandarins.  Usually  they  do  not  think  it  worth  while  to  re¬ 
ceive  barbarians  in  their  official  costume,  and  are  scrupulously 
plain  in  their  attire.  Now,  however,  as  the  governor  general  took 
care  to  inform  Lord  Elgin,  all  the  provincial,  civic,  and  military 
authorities  were  present  in  full  dress,  their  silks,  satins,  and  furs 
of  the  handsomest  material,  and  their  breasts  emblazoned  with 
dragons  and  other  devices,  elaborately  embroidered.  The  spa¬ 
cious  audience-hall  contained  at  one  end  the  usual  raised  seat, 
upon  which  Lord  Elgin  and  the  governor  general  took  their 
places.  On  each  side,  a  long  row  of  chairs  and  little  tea-tables 
afforded  accommodation  for  a  British  officer  and  a  Chinese  man¬ 
darin  alternately ;  though,  beyond  hobnobbing  over  hot  tea,  it 
was  difficult  to  interchange  civility,  much  less  ideas. 

Kwan,  Governor  General  of  Hoopeh  and  Hoonan,  is  a  Tartar. 
He  stands  high  in  imperial  favor,  having  been  very  successful  in 


A  MAGNIFICENT  REPAST. 


575 


his  campaigns  against  the  rebels,  whom  he  has  succeeded  in  ex¬ 
pelling  from  his  government.  He  professed  great  knowledge  of 
foreigners,  from  the  circumstance  of  his  having,  at  a  former  peri¬ 
od  of  his  life,  served  in  Canton  as  second  in  command  of  the  Tar¬ 
tar  garrison  of  that  city.  He  had,  therefore,  had  opportunities  of 
seeing  the  barbarian  occasionally  at  a  distance. 

After  a  short  conversation  upon  general  subjects,  our  host  led 
the  way  to  another  apartment,  in  which  a  magnificent  banquet 
was  prepared  upon  a  scale  infinitely  superior  to  any  similar  en¬ 
tertainment  at  which  we  had  assisted  in  China.  Four  sets  of  ta¬ 
bles,  sufficient  to  accommodate  the  whole  party,  were  loaded  with 
all  the  delicacies  of  the  season,  tastefully  arranged  in  pyramidal 
and  globular  structures.  Nor  was  this  merely  the  cold  collation 
common  to  official  visits.  A  great  variety  of  hot  dishes  made 
their  appearance  in  rapid  succession,  generally  somewhat  greasy 
in  their  nature,  but  occasionally  very  palatable  to  persons  of  a 
confiding  temperament,  and  who  did  not  care  minutely  to  inves¬ 
tigate  the  materials  of  which  these  various  entrees  were  com¬ 
posed. 

Sundry  descriptions  of  hot  wines  were  also  pressed  upon  us, 
and  afterward  the  excellent  Pu-uhr  tea,  to  which  I  have  already 
alluded.  It  was  not  merely  from  a  desire  to  soothe  our  ‘‘uncon¬ 
trollable  fierceness”  that  we  were  thus  magnificently  entertained. 
Our  host  was  evidently  a  bon-vivant,  and  a  man  of  hospitable 
tendencies.  He  delighted  in  piling  delicacies  on  his  own  plate  as 
well  as  the  plates  of  his  neighbors,  and  took  a  manifest  pride  in 
the  excellence  of  his  cuisine,  and  completeness  of  his  arrange¬ 
ments  generally.  We  afterward  learned  that  the  escort  of  seven¬ 
ty  men  had  also  been  provided  with  refreshment.  At  last,  after 
having  done  thorough  justice  to  his  feast,  we  bade  adieu  to  our 
sybaritic  entertainer,  who  accompanied  Lord  Elgin,  as  usual,  to 
his  chair,  with  many  expressions  of  regret  at  being  obliged  to 
part  with  him,  and  assurances  that,  in  the  mean  time,  his  only 
consolation  would  be  in  the  prospect  of  returning  the  visit  on  the 
following  day. 

We  were  followed  by  a  considerable  crowd  on  our  way  back 
to  the  river-bank,  and  re-embarked  under  a  Chinese  salute,  well 
satisfied  with  the  day’s  experiences,  our  entire  enjoyment  being 
alloyed  only  by  a  vague  feeling  of  uneasiness  and  apprehension  at 
the  possible  consequences  of  our  gastronomic  indulgences,  with 


576  THE  ketukn  visit.— a  beilliant  scene. 

which  we  were  not  unnaturally  haunted  for  the  succeeding  twen¬ 
ty-four  hours. 

11th.  The  bright,  clear  autumn  days  in  which  we  have  been 
reveling  are  most  propitious  to  the  interchange  of  official  civilities, 
which  involved  so  much  open-air  display.  At  eleven  this  morn¬ 
ing,  the  Prefect  of  Wo-chang,  and  several  other  mandarins  of 
rank,  came  on  board  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  great  man.  As 
the  ceremony  was  to  be  invested  with  much  pomp  and  circum¬ 
stance,  the  news  had  spread  far  and  wide,  and  the  surface  of  the 
great  river  was  literally  alive  with  boats  full  of  pleasure-parties 
and  sight-seers,  who  turned  out  as  freely  as  if  our  gun-boats  had 
been  in  Southampton  water  instead  of  the  Yang-tse-Kiang,  and 
they  had  come  down  express  to  see  the  great  naval  review. 

We  could  discern  with  our  glasses  the  troops,  both  cavalry  and 
infantry,  lining  the  opposite  bank,  and  make  out  the  state  junk. 
After  the  usual  amount  of  suspense  and  watching,  three  puffs  of 
smoke  indicated  the  arrival  of  the  governor  general;  then  the 
unwieldy  craft  got  under  weigh,  and  the  excitement  became  in¬ 
tense.  Official  boats,  with  flags  fluttering  from  stem  and  stern, 
darted  about,  ordering,  directing,  and  clearing  the  way ;  the  hum 
of  many  voices  filled  the  air ;  the  river  brink  presented  a  dense 
mass  of  heads,  whose  owners  were  all  squeezing,  staring,  and  gab¬ 
bling. 

Meantime  the  huge  state  junk,  covered  with  flags,  and  towed 
by  six  twenty-oared  boats  in  line,  all  similarly  decorated,  was 
sweeping  at  a  slow  and  dignified  pace  across  the  stream,  surround¬ 
ed  by  crowds  of  boats  containing  minor  officials  and  spectators. 
As  she  approached,  we  added  our  own  collection  to  the  dragons 
and  other  Celestial  devices  which  were  already  waving  in  the 
breeze.  Suddenly  the  ships  were  dressed,  and  a  suppressed  “Ay, 
yah !”  of  astonishment  was  uttered  by  the  crowd.  Meantime 
mandarins  of  all  ranks  were  arriving,  and  pouring  in  upon  our 
deck;  and  the  ship  was  surrounded  by  boats  full  of  soldiers  in 
red  jackets,  with  spears,  bows,  matchlocks,  and  tridents,  with  oth¬ 
er  quaint  and  fantastic  weapons. 

Among  these  the  executioners  were  the  most  conspicuous,  with 
their  conical  bloodstained  hats,  truculent  countenances,  and  plait¬ 
ed  thongs  for  castigation — the  badges  of  their  office.  Then  the 
great  junk  was  made  fast  alongside,  and  all  the  ships  manned 
yards,  and  belched  out  a  noisy  welcome  to  the  exalted  visitor  as 


THE  GOVERNOR  GENERAL  AND  SUITE. 


577 


he  stepped  on  board ;  and  the  flags  waved,  and  the  gongs  beat, 
and  the  crowd  murmured  their  satisfaction,  while  the  bright  sun 
shone  gloriously  upon  a  scene  as  exciting  and  novel  as  it  was  ever 
my  good  fortune  to  witness. 

The  governor  general  and  suite  were  now  taken  over  the  ship, 
and  looked  for  the  first  time  upon  the  wonderful  mechanism  of  a 


The  Governor  General  of  Iloo-kwang,  with  his  Suite. 


400-horse-power  steam-engine  without  betraying  any  astonish¬ 
ment.  When,  however,  the  95-hundred-weight  pivot  gun  was 
worked  for  their  edification,  a  gleam  of  dignified  surprise  might 
be  detected  by  an  acute  observer  lighting  up  all  their  counte¬ 
nances.  After  a  luncheon,  which  could  scarcely  equal  in  its  pro¬ 
portions  that  of  the  governor  general,  but  to  which  he  did  full 
justice,  he  was  “posed”  for  his  photograph  upon  the  deck.  The 
result,  which  may  be  seen  in  the  annexed  wood-cut,  charmed  his 
excellency,  and  he  extorted  the  most  solemn  promises  from  Mr. 
Jocelyn  that  he  should  be  furnished  with  a  supply  of  prints  to  be 
sent  to  him  from  Shanghai. 

Our  distinguished  guest  was  particularly  struck  with  the  }^outh- 

0  o 


578  INSPECTION  OF  MIDSHIPMEN.— THE  BRAVE  ARMY. 

fill  warriors  by  whom  be  found  bimself  surrounded.  Midshipmen 
are  always  a  source  of  astonishment  to  Chinamen,  who  are  accus¬ 
tomed  to  treat  boys  with  a  kindness  almost  amounting  to  respect, 
and  can  in  no  degree  comprehend  the  system  which  induces  us  to 
expose  them  at  so  early  an  age  to  the  perils  and  dangers  which 
are  involved  in  the  service  of  their  country.  Kwan  requested  a 
collection  of  these  young  gentlemen  to  be  brought  to  him  for  in¬ 
spection,  and  informed  them,  with  an  approving  smile,  that  he  dis¬ 
covered,  in  the  expression  of  their  countenances,  a  very  high  order 
of  talent.  At  last  the  great  man  took  his  leave,  protesting  with  a 
vehement  and  energetic  fervor  the  satisfaction  he  had  derived 
from  the  visit,  and  professing,  in  affectionate  terms,  sentiments  of 
eternal  respect  and  amity.  Then,  under  the  thunder  of  more  sa¬ 
lutes,  he  stepped  on  board  his  gay  barge.  That  ponderous  and 
singular  specimen  of  naval  architecture  once  more  swung  slowly 
into  the  stream,  and,  like  an  elephant  drawn  by  an  army  of  rats, 
followed  its  fleet  of  many-oared  boats  to  the  opposite  shore. 

As  we  were  desirous  of  a  closer  inspection  of  the  brave  troops 
drawn  up  in  gallant  array  under  the  walls  of  W o-chang,  and  had 
not  yet  sufficiently  satisfied  our  curiosity  with  respect  to  that  city, 
a  party  of  us  pulled  across,  and  reached  the  opposite  bank  almost 
as  soon  as  the  governor  general  himself.  We  found  from  fifteen 
hundred  to  two  thousand  men  drawn  up  in  a  line  upon  the  river 
margin. 

The  cavalry  were  mounted  on  rough  ponies,  thirteen  or  fourteen 
hands  high.  A  red  jacket  of  coarse  cloth,  and  a  remarkable  de¬ 
scription  of  lappet,  falling  over  the  outside  of  the  thigh  over  their 
trowsers,  composed  the  uniform.  The  men  were  all  armed  with 
matchlocks  swung  behind  their  backs,  and  the  officers  had  swords, 
and  quivers  full  of  arrows.  The  bows  were  not  visible.  But  the 
costume  of  the  infantry  was  far  more  grotesque  and  fantastic.  At¬ 
tached  to  each  regiment  were  a  score  or  more  of  men  dressed  in 
a  complete  flesh-colored  suit,  fitting  tightly  to  the  skin,  and  which 
reached  from  the  hood  that  covered  their  heads  down  to  their 
ankles.  Each  man  held  over  the  middle  of  his  person  a  circular 
straw  shield,  upon  which  hideous  ogre  faces  were  painted.  At  a 
distance  these  men  looked  as  though  they  were  naked,  with  noth¬ 
ing  on  but  their  shields.  On  approaching  nearer,  however,  they 
assume  rather  the  appearance  of  harlequins,  for  then  we  could  dis¬ 
cern  that  the  yellow  skin  which  covered  them  was  ornamented 


SINGULAR  UNIFORM. — PANORAMIC  VIEW  OF  WO-CHANG.  579 

with  little  black  twirligigs  like  tadpoles.  Altogether,  their  as¬ 
pect  was  most  absurd  and  ludicrous ;  and  as  they  seemed  to  have 
no  weapon  of  defense,  they  are  probably  expected  to  strike  terror 
into  an  enemy  by  their  personal  appearance.  Next  in  order  to 
this  squad  of  tom-fools  was  a  small  body  of  men  in  black,  armed 
with  matchlocks,  the  fuses  wound  round  the  stock  of  the  gun. 
Then  came  the  main  body  of  the  regiment  in  red,  armed  with 
spears,  bows  and  arrows,  and  swords.  Four  or  five  such  regi¬ 
ments,  besides  the  cavalry,  were  drawn  up  to  receive  the  governor 
general,  and  a  portion  of  them  accompanied  him  as  a  guard  of 
honor  through  the  town.  We  managed  to  avoid  the  procession, 
and,  escaping  into  some  by-streets,  reached  the  ridge  to  which  I 
have  already  alluded  as  being  tunneled  through  by  the  principal 
street. 

From  the  summit  of  this  hill,  which  divides  the  city  into  two 
equal  parts,  a  good  panoramic  view  of  it  is  obtained.  The  area 
of  ground  inclosed  by  the  walls  of  Wo-chang  is  probably  larger 
than  that  occupied  by  Canton ;  but  not  more  than  a  third  of  this 
space  is  built  upon  and  inhabited,  so  that  the  relative  proportion 
of  its  population  with  that  of  the  latter  city  is  materially  altered. 

We  estimated  the  population  of  Wo-chang  at  from  three  to  four 
hundred  thousand.  The  walls  are  dilapidated,  in  some  parts  out 
of  repair,  and  mount  no  guns.  Large  tracts  of  ground  are  strewn 
with  ruins  and  the  debris  of  houses  destroyed  by  the  rebels. 
Some  idea  of  the  deserted  character  of  portions  of  the  city  may 
be  formed  from  the  fact  that,  while  walking  down  the  centre  of 
it,  we  put  up  two  brace  of  pheasants.  So  solitary  was  the  spot 
that  the  crowd  did  not  discover  us  for  some  time,  and  then  only 
collected  in  small  numbers.  From  the  highest  point  we  com¬ 
manded  a  bird’s-eye  view  of  all  the  public  buildings  left  standing. 
Of  these  the  principal  were  the  hall  of  examination,  the  yamun  of 
the  Governor  General  Kwan,  that  of  the  governor  of  the  city,  and 
a  handsome  pagoda.  A  body  of  troops  was  encamped  in  tents  at 
our  feet,  and  parade  was  actually  going  on. 

Altogether  the  military  display  at  Wo-chang  was  more  com¬ 
plete  and  extensive  than  any  thing  I  had  yet  seen  in  China. 

Beyond  the  walls  the  country  was  broken  and  undulating ;  nu¬ 
merous  lakes  lay  glittering  beneath  the  rays  of  the  setting  sun, 
whose  ruddy  disk,  almost  touching  the  level  horizon  of  the  plains 
in  a  westerly  direction,  warned  us  that  we  had  not  allowed  our- 


580 


REASONS  FOR  OUR  RETURN. 


selves  more  time  than  was  necessary  to  regain  the  bank,  and 
cross  the  wide  river  to  our  faithful  ship  among  the  junks  at  Han¬ 
kow. 

12 th.  We  had  now  spent  six  days  at  Han-kow;  but  five  weeks 
had  elapsed  since  our  departure  from  Shanghai,  and  we  began  to 
give  our  friends  credit  for  feeling  some  anxiety  on  our  account. 
Knowing  the  fertility  of  the  Chinese  brain  in  inventing  improba¬ 
ble  stories,  and  the  readiness  of  the  British  public  to  believe  them, 
it  became  incumbent  on  us  to  commence,  without  unnecessary  de¬ 
lay,  our  return  journey.  Nor  was  there  any  very  valid  excuse 
for  pushing  farther  up  the  river.  Han-kow  was  the  extreme 
point  at  which  we  were  to  be  allowed  a  port  by  treaty,  and,  except 
for  purposes  of  exploration,  we  had  no  public  reason  for  prolong¬ 
ing  our  voyage. 

Never  before,  in  the  annals  of  British  naval  enterprise,  had  one 
of  her  majesty’s  frigates  accomplished  so  many  miles  of  river  ex¬ 
ploration  ;  and  it  was  with  the  utmost  reluctance  that  we  now  ex¬ 
posed  the  stern  instead  of  the  bows  of  our  good  ship  to  the  force 
of  that  current  which  she  had  so  bravely  breasted.  We  had  at 
one  time  been  sanguine  enough  to  indulge  the  hope  of  reaching 
the  Toong-ting  Lake,  the  largest  sheet  of  water  in  China,  and  from 
which  we  were  scarce  a  hundred  miles  distant ;  this  probably 
would  be  the  extreme  limit  to  which  a  ship  drawing  sixteen  feet 
of  water  could  ascend,  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances ; 
beyond  that  are  the  rapids  of  Kwei,  as  to  the  exact  character  of 
which  obstruction  we  are  not  yet  informed,  but  it  is  not  impossi¬ 
ble,  from  the  vague  accounts  which  have  reached  us,  that  river- 
steamers  drawing  little  water,  and  with  plenty  of  power,  might 
ascend  them. 

During  the  whole  period  of  our  stay  the  people  had  never 
ceased  collecting  opposite  the  ships  and  staring  at  them ;  and, 
doubtless,  many  years  hence,  when  there  are  steamers  plowing 
the  waters  of  the  Yang-tse  as  freely  as  they  do  now  those  of  the 
Mississippi,  old  men  will  tell  their  wondering  progeny,  who  are 
probably  stokers,  that  they  remember  the  day  when  foreign  ships, 
then  supposed  to  be  under  demoniacal  influence,  suddenly  appear¬ 
ed  for  the  first  time  among  the  now  obsolete  craft,  formerly  known 
as  junks,  at  Han-kow,  and,  after  remaining  a  week,  as  suddenly 
vanished;  and  how,  for  some  time  afterward,  until  barbarians 
again  reached  Han-kow  and  built  a  magnificent  city  upon  its 


SUBSIDENCE  OF  THE  RIVER.— WILD  FOWL.  531 

river-banks,  it  was  popularly  supposed  that  tlie  apparition  bad 
been  supernatural. 

We  reached  the  “  Squeeze ,”  above  Hwang-chow,  in  time  to  buoy 
it  out  for  to-morrow,  but  found,  to  our  dismay,  that  since  we  had 
last  crossed  it  the  water  had  fallen  five  feet,  and  was  still  subsid¬ 
ing  rapidly.  The  information,  therefore,  which  we  received  on 
our  way  up,  that  the  water  had  already  been  at  its  lowest,  was  en¬ 
tirely  false  and  erroneous. 

13 th.  The  day  was  spent  in  looking  in  vain  for  a  passage  over 
a  bar  a  little  below  Hwang-chow.  Things  begin  to  look  serious ; 
every  moment  of  delay  renders  our  chance  of  getting  over  the 
several  bars  ahead  more  remote.  The  Hove  and  Lee  are  inde¬ 
fatigable  in  their  efforts  to  find  a  channel.  Some  of  our  party 
consoled  themselves  by  landing  on  a  sand -bank  in  pursuit  of  wild 
geese,  and  were  fortunate  enough  to  bag  three. 

1 4,tli.  Hove  on  shore,  and  our  channel-hunters  completely  non¬ 
plused.  Gloomy  spirits  indulge  in  the  most  depressing  specula¬ 
tions  as  to  the  future,  and  visions  of  wintering  up  the  Yang-tse 
are  somewhat  forcibly  presented  to  the  imagination.  By  way  of 
testing  the  resources  of  the  neighborhood  in  the  event  of  such  a 
contingency,  parties  of  us  landed,  and  shot  and  explored  in  all  di¬ 
rections.  We  found  an  extensive  plain  stretching  from  the  vil¬ 
lages  and  cultivation  which  line  the  bank  to  the  blue  distance 
where  trees  were  faintly  discernible. 

This  plain  is  a  lake  in  summer,  and  we  crossed  to  where  some  ol 
its  waters  still  remained.  It  is  traversed  by  a  mere  muddy  ditch, 
which  is  a  tributary  to  an  inconsiderable  stream  called  the  Paho, 
which  enters  the  Yang-tse-Kiang  at  this  point.  The  short  green 
herbage  affords  grazing  to  numerous  flocks  of  unapproachable 
wild  geese.  Storks,  cranes,  herons,  and  all  sorts  of  monster  water- 
fowl  stalk  about  the  grass,  so  shortly  cropped  that  it  would  not 
afford  shelter  for  a  mouse,  and  loom  in  the  distant  haze  like  os¬ 
triches.  Historted  pigs,  and  buffaloes  ridden  by  boys,  share  the 
pasturage  with  these  birds. 

Many  of  these  water-fowl  were  of  a  description  entirely  new  to 
me.  Besides  wild  duck  there  were  grebe  of  many  varieties,  more 
interesting  to  the  ornithologist  than  to  the  sportsman.  Teal  and 
widgeon  were  abundant,  and  I  had  no  difficulty  in  killing  four 
brace ;  but  in  the  absence  of  a  retriever,  fishing  them  out  of  the 
water  afterward  was  a  less  agreeable  pastime.  Fortunately,  I 


582 


RURAL  CIVILITY.— THE  LEE  IN  TROUBLE. 


found  the  peasantry  liere,  as  elsewhere,  delighted  to  be  of  use ;  and 
one  man  abandoned  entirely  his  agricultural  operations,  and  de¬ 
voted  himself  to  swimming  in  after  the  birds,  or  plunging  vigor¬ 
ously  into  the  tenacious  mud,  stripping  each  time  to  his  work. 

We  were  frequently  invited  to  refresh  ourselves,  as  we  plodded 
through  the  fields,  with  the  hot  tea  which  the  laborers  always  keep 
ready  boiling  to  comfort  them  during  their  midday  toil ;  a  few 
charges  of  powder,  or  a  dozen  lucifer  matches,  were  more  highly 
appreciated  than  handfuls  of  cash :  the  matches  especially  were 
handed  about,  and  treasured  as  miracles  of  pyrotechnic  skill.  In 
many  instances  the  peasantry  declined  any  pecuniary  remunera¬ 
tion,  and  would  only  receive  these  curiosities  at  our  hands. 

Lord  Elgin  had  in  the  mean  time  visited  the  town  of  Paho,  and 
described  it  as  a  compact  little  place,  substantially  built  of  red 
sandstone.  While  I  was  engaged  in  ingratiating  myself  into  the 
affections  of  the  rural  population,  I  suddenly  observed  the  recall 
signal  flying  at  the  mast-head  of  the  Furious,  and  reached  her 
just  in  time  to  share  in  the  excitement  of  charging  a  fourteen-feet 
bar. 

The  deepest  channel  that  could  be  found  gave  us  eighteen  inches 
less  water  than  we  were  drawing.  However,  as  the  only  alterna¬ 
tive  was  to  remain  where  we  were,  Captain  Osborn  felt  justified  in 
putting  the  old  ship  at  it,  and  it  must  be  admitted  that  she  took 
her  fence  in  a  most  creditable  style.  At  one  moment  she  canted 
over  a  good  deal,  and  we  were  in  doubt  whether  the  bottom  was 
soft  enough  and  the  current  strong  enough  to  carry  her  over.  It 
was  with  no  little  satisfaction  that  we  dropped  anchor  at  last  in 
deep  water,  on  the  right  side  of  this  formidable  obstacle. 

15 th.  Our  hopes  of  last  night  have  proved  as  false  and  shifting 
as  the  bed  of  this  most  treacherous  river.  Ho  sooner  had  we  con¬ 
gratulated  ourselves  upon  the  success  of  our  late  achievement  than 
the  Lee  was  brought  up  in  ten  fathoms  upon  a  pinnacle  of  rock, 
upon  which  she  began  gracefully  pirouetting,  as  though  in  mock¬ 
ery  of  our  despair.  While  her  zealous  commander,  Lieutenant 
Jones,  was  engaged  in  laying  out  hawsers  and  stream-cables,  and 
backing  astern,  and  going  ahead,  and  rolling  and  jumping,  and  ul¬ 
timately  lightening  her,  we,  who  were  now  familiar  with  every 
process  to  be  resorted  to  with  a  gun-boat  in  difficulties,  again  took 
advantage  of  the  delay  to  land  and  explore  some  interesting  quar¬ 
ries  we  had  observed  on  our  voyage  up. 


LIME  QUARRIES. 


583 


A  precipitous  range  of  limestone  cliffs,  from  1500  to  2000  feet 
in  height,  overhung  the  river  at  this  point ;  at  its  base  the  village 
of  Shih-wa-yaou,  inhabited  principally  by  quarrymen,  was  pictur¬ 
esquely  situated,  while  its  rugged  sides  were  deeply  scored  and 
undermined  by  the  long-prosecuted  labor  of  men.  The  limestone 
is  hewn  out  of  the  hill  side  with  pickaxe  and  cold  chisel,  the  proc¬ 
ess  of  blasting  being  apparently  unknown.  The  kilns  were  sit¬ 
uated  at  the  base  of  the  hill.  The  fuel  used  was  coal,  principally 
procured  from  the  neighborhood  of  Hing-kwoh,  its  price  at  this 
place  being  18s.  a  ton.  The  coal  is  mixed  in  the  furnaces  with 
red  clay.  This  clay,  after  it  is  burnt,  is  used  for  building  pur¬ 
poses,  and  is  placed  together  with  unburnt  brick  in  thick  layers  of 
lime.  All  the  houses  of  which  the  town  is  composed  are  con¬ 
structed  in  this  manner.  I  did  not  understand  the  object  of  mix¬ 
ing  the  clay  with  the  coal  in  the  first  instance.  As  scoriae,  it  seem¬ 
ed  a  convenient  building  material. 

The  quick-lime  is  stacked  in  huge  wicker  frames,  thirty  or  forty 
feet  in  height,  thatched  at  the  roof,  so  that  they  present  the  appear¬ 
ance  of  enormous  baskets  turned  topsy-turvy,  the  shape  being  that 
of  an  inverted  truncated  cone.  The  quick-lime  is  sold  at  the  rate 
of  185.  a  ton,  while  the  slack-lime  is  used  as  manure. 

It  appeared  that  the  quarries  were  free  to  all  comers,  any  man 
being  entitled  to  purchase  the  privilege  of  working  them  by  the 
payment  of  a  rent  of  1000  cash,  or  about  four  shillings,  for  six 
months,  to  a  company  who  farm  the  quarries  from  the  govern¬ 
ment. 

We  were  unable  to  discover  the  total  amount  paid  by  this  com¬ 
pany  to  the  government,  nor  could  we  obtain  any  accurate  inform¬ 
ation  as  to  the  quantity  of  lime  annually  produced.  The  atrocious 
dialect  in  which  our  informants  spoke  rendered  the  task  of  acquir¬ 
ing  any  precise  knowledge  of  the  subject  more  than  usually  diffi¬ 
cult.  One  piece  of  intelligence  they  gave  us,  however,  which  was 
by  no  means  encouraging,  and  this  was,  that  the  river  was  still 
likely  to  fall  some  feet,  as  the  rock  on  which  the  Lee  was  now 
perched  was  distinctly  visible  at  low  water. 

We  ascended  the  hill  to  an  elevation  of  700  or  800  feet  above 
the  river,  and  reveled  in  the  prospect  which  was  spread  out  before 
us.  The  flourishing  town  of  Hwang-shih-kang,  presenting  a  fa¬ 
vorable  contrast  to  the  demolished  cities  in  its  neighborhood,  lay 
basking  in  the  sun  a  few  miles  distant — broad  blue  lakes  and 


584 


WILD  SCENERY.— DEEP  WATER, 


grassy  plains  extended  northward  to  a  purple  range  in  the  dim 
distance ;  while  behind  us  were  wooded  valleys,  and  wild  rugged 
hills,  with  spurs  jutting  into  the  great  river,  and  rising  in  abrupt 
wild  crags  from  its  yellow  waters.  We  descended  into  a  valley 
where  some  excavations  into  the  hill  side,  with  blackened  edges, 
gave  promise  of  coal.  None  of  the  pits  into  which  we  entered 
were  deep.  The  people  said  that  they  had  not  been  worked  for 
fifty  years,  but  that,  previous  to  that  period,  coal  had  been  extract¬ 
ed  from  them. 

We  were  cheered,  on  our  return  to  the  ship,  to  find  that  the  Lee 
had  been  rescued  from  her  perilous  position,  though  not  without 
injury  to  her  bottom;  still,  we  had  every  reason  to  congratulate 
ourselves  that  the  rock  had  been  discovered  by  her  instead  of  by 
the  Furious,  With  her  greater  draught  of  water  and  superior 
momentum,  that  excellent  old  tub,  had  she  struck  it,  would  in  all 
probability  have  prematurely  terminated  her  existence  in  the  cause 
of  diplomatic  exploration. 

Projecting  into  the  river  a  few  miles  below  us  is  the  remarka¬ 
ble  bluff  of  Ke-tow,  or  the  Cock’s  Head.  The  Hove  has  just  re¬ 
turned  from  sounding  beneath  this  stupendous  rock,  and  reports 
thirty-three  fathoms  of  water. 


EXPLORATION  OF  A  LAKE. 


585 


CHAPTER  XL. 

Exploration  of  a  Lake. — An  educated  Peasant. — Charging  the  Bar. — Intricate  Navi¬ 
gation. — Good  Sport. — We  abandon  the  Furious. — Christmas-day. — Close  Stow¬ 
age  in  the  Lee. — Approach  Ngan-king. — Mr.  Wade’s  Visit  to  the  Rebels. — His 
Report  of  it. — Arrival  at  Woohoo. — A  Rebel  Communication. — We  land  at  Nan¬ 
kin. — A  Visit  to  a  Rebel  Chief. — Report  of  the  Interview. — Our  Interview  with 
Le. — The  real  State  of  the  Case. — Morals  of  the  Rebels. — Strength  of  the  Garri¬ 
son. — The  Rebel  Theology. 

December  16.  Our  day’s  voyage  led  us  through  the  gorge  of 
Pwan,  undoubtedly  the  finest  piece  of  scenery  on  the  river.  A 
small  river  enters  the  Yang-tse-Kiang  from  the  south,  dividing 
Hoopeh  from  Kiang-si.  At  a  place  called  Toong-sha,  on  this  riv¬ 
er,  the  finest  tea  of  Hoopeh  is  said  to  be  produced.  Coal  and  cot¬ 
ton  are  two  most  important  productions  of  this  district. 

The  downward  voyage  involved  many  more  difficulties  of  nav¬ 
igation  than  we  had  experienced  on  our  way  up.  We  had  then 
grounded  frequently ;  now  there  was  five  feet  less  water,  and  a 
strong  tide  sweeping  us  down  on  unknown  dangers.  The  inci¬ 
dents  of  a  voyage  down  the  Volga  were  forcibly  recalled  to  my 
mind,  but  the  “pericartes”  (or  sand-banks)  of  that  noble  stream 
were  nothing  to  the  shoals  and  rocks  of  the  Yang-tse. 

11th.  The  gun -boats  have  been  employed  all  day  looking  for  a 
passage  over  the  bar  at  the  Red  Bluffs — a  serious  obstacle  on  our 
way  up,  and  now  apparently  a  hopeless  one.  W e  can  scarcely 
regret  these  constant  delays  except  for  the  sake  of  the  ship’s  bot¬ 
tom,  as  they  afford  us  admirable  opportunities  of  becoming  ac¬ 
quainted  with  the  rural  population,  and  the  general  features  of  the 
country. 

After  a  walk  of  between  two  and  three  miles  from  the  ship 
across  the  plain,  we  reached  an  extensive  lake,  the  shores  of  which 
rose  in  swelling  undulations  from  its  glassy  surface.  Wooded 
promontories  projected  half  way  across,  forming  deep  bays  where 
cottages  were  clustered  and  boats  were  moored,  and  cotton -fields 
terraced  the  hill  sides. 

Water-fowl  of  many  varieties  paddled  and  fluttered  upon  the 
margin  of  this  vast  sheet  of  water,  for  we  could  not  see  its  whole 


586  AN  educated  peasant.— charging  the  bar. 


extent  from  any  one  point ;  and  a  small  river,  meandering  through 
the  plain,  watered  the  meadows,  where  flocks  and  herds  were  graz¬ 
ing.  Sometimes  the  great  river  itself  overflows  this  rich  expanse- 
We  were  informed  that  this  catastrophe  had  not  occurred  since 
1849,  when  immense  damage  had  been  done,  and  miles  of  culti¬ 
vated  land  were  overlaid  with  five  or  six  feet  of  sand.  We  ob¬ 
served  many  barren  spots,  where  pits  had  been  dug  down  to  the 
rich  loam  that  had  been  thus  buried. 

Over  one  of  the  cottages  in  a  small  village  Lord  Elgin  observed 
a  tablet,  which,  on  being  interpreted,  was  found  to  be  a  notice  to 
the  effect  that  one  of  the  members  of  the  family  then  inhabiting 
it  had  taken  a  high  scholastic  degree,  and,  though  the  son  of  a 
peasant,  had  achieved  an  important  grade  of  mandarinic  dignity. 
The  brother  was  the  present  occupant  of  the  humble  abode,  also  a 
man  of  literary  tastes  and  tendencies;  and,  though  only  the  pro¬ 
prietor  of  three  acres  of  land,  he  had  paid  a  hundred  and  eight 
taels  for  one  degree,  but  had  unfortunately  been  plucked  at  all  his 
succeeding  attempts,  so  that  he  was  reduced  to  the  humiliating  al¬ 
ternative  of  being  obliged  to  wait  until  he  should  attain  the  age 
of  sixty,  when  he  would  be  entitled  to  an  ad  eundem.  In  the  back 
of  the  cottage  was  a  curiously  constructed  press  filled  with  cotton¬ 
seed  :  this  was  subjected  to  the  blows  of  a  huge  beam,  swung  like 
a  catapult ;  and  the  oil  thus  extracted,  we  were  informed,  was  used 
for  culinary  purposes. 

In  whatever  direction  the  different  exploring  parties  wandered, 
they  all  met  with  the  same  uniform  civility  from  the  country  peo¬ 
ple,  into  whose  cottages  we  never  hesitated  to  enter.  This  day 
was  memorable  to  us  as  the  anniversary  of  our  first  embarkation 
on  board  the  Furious.  A  year’s  residence  in  that  ship  had  suf¬ 
ficed  to  attach  us  to  our  floating  home,  though  we  already  begun 
to  suspect  that  a  tender  and  somewhat  abrupt  parting  was  in  pros¬ 
pect. 

l&th.  The  only  incident  of  the  day  was  the  determination  at 
which  Captain  Osborn  arrived  of  charging  the  bar  to-morrow. 

19th.  The  Cruiser,  drawing  a  few  inches  less  than  fourteen  feet, 
crossed  without  touching.  We,  drawing  eighteen  inches  more, 
knew  what  to  expect,  and  went  at  it  full  speech  It  was  a  pleasure 
to  see  the  gallant  way  in  which  the  old  ship  was  handled  in  this 
cross  country  work,  and  how  splendidly  she  behaved ;  how  beau¬ 
tifully  she  was  kept  together  as  she  approached  her  fences,  how 


INTRICATE  NAVIGATION. 


587 


obedient  to  the  .  slightest  touch  of  the  reins.  The  captain  on  one 
paddle-box,  the  master  on  the  other,  four  men  at  the  wheel,  hands 
by  the  jib-halliards  and  spanker  out-haul,  men  by  bow  and  stern 
anchors,  engineers  alert  in  the  engine-room;  then,  with  a  swinging 
tide,  “ full  speed  ahead!”  we  rush  at  the  second  cutter,  anchored 
on  one  bank  to  starboard,  in  a  manner  calculated  to  lead  the  young 
gentleman  in  the  boat  to  suppose  that  we  are  bent  on  his  destruc¬ 
tion  ;  then,  shaving  him  by  a  miracle,  steer  clear  of  a  buoy  on  the 
port  side  by  an  eighth  of  an  inch,  then  run  out  the  spanker  and 
haul  down  the  jib  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye.  It  is  of  no  use : 
the  ship  is  perfectly  in  hand ;  we  keep  the  channel  to  a  nicety ; 
but,  unhappily,  it  surpasses  even  the  capabilities  of  the  Furious  to 
float  in  fourteen  feet  of  water  when  she  is  drawing  fifteen.  There 
is  a  scrape  and  a  lurch ;  the  paddles  revolve  helplessly ;  the  order, 
u  Stop  her !”  is  reluctantly  given,  and  the  next  process  of  hawsers, 
stream-cables,  and  anchors,  in  all  sorts  of  directions,  is  vigorously 
entered  upon.  By  dint  of  dexterously  bringing  the  ship  broad¬ 
side  on  to  the  current,  she  was  converted  into  a  species  of  dredg¬ 
ing-machine,  and,  during  upward  of  twelve  hours,  we  dragged 
steadily  through  the  mud,  shifting  our  anchors  whenever  our  al¬ 
tered  position  rendered  this  operation  necessary. 

19 th.  At  four  o’clock  this  morning,  when  we  were  all  profound¬ 
ly  indifferent  as  to  our  possible  fate,  the  good  ship  had  been  forced 
by  the  current  through  the  mud,  and  was  anchored  immediately 
beyond  the  bar.  When  day  broke  we  found  our  position  scarce¬ 
ly  improved ;  we  were  moored  with  our  nose  up  stream,  in  a 
channel  so  narrow  that  it  seemed  impossible  to  turn,  and  equally 
difficult  to  find  our  way,  stern  first,  along  the  tortuous  channel 
ahead.  The  manoeuvre  was  most  cleverly  effected  at  last  by  run¬ 
ning  the  ship’s  stern  actually  upon  the  shore,  so  as  seriously  to 
imperil  the  toes  of  some  Chinamen  standing  staring  at  the  water  s 
edge ;  then  the  current  and  the  jibs  together  took  her  bows  round, 
and  we  once  more  found  ourselves  triumphantly  sweeping  down 

the  turbid  waters  of  the  great  river. 

As  we  passed  Loong-ping  we  observed  the  tents  of  an  impe¬ 
rialist  force,  a  number  of  man-of-war  junks,  and  some  troops  ap¬ 
parently  on  the  march.  Wo  augured  from  this  that  the  rebels 
were  in  close  proximity. 

We  were  met  just  before  dark  by  the  Dove,  bringing  us  the 
painful  intelligence  that  the  deepest  water  to  be  found  on  a  bai 


588 


GOOD  SPORT.— GLOOMY  PROSPECT. 


ahead  was  eleven  feet.  This,  if  true,  was  absolute  annihilation  to 
all  idea  of  reaching  the  sea  in  the  Furious.  However,  we  still 
hoped  for  the  best,  and  anchored  for  the  night  a  little  below  the 
city  of  Kew-kiang. 

20 th  and  21st.  While  the  Lee  and  Dove  are  away  channel¬ 
hunting,  we,  as  usual,  are  engaged  in  a  less  important  but  more 
amusing  sport.  We  rambled  for  miles  over  the  charming  coun¬ 
try  which  intervenes  between  the  river  and  the  Poyang  Lake. 
We  explored  in  all  directions  the  hills  wooded  with  stunted  oak 
and  pine,  cultivated  with  cotton,  flax,  and  corn,  of  different  vari¬ 
eties,  inhabited  by  a  simple  population,  whose  snug  houses  nestle 
in  the  recesses  of  secluded  valleys :  these,  not  being  subject  to  in¬ 
undation,  are  more  substantially  built  than  those  in  the  plains. 
Charming  lakes  are  embosomed  among  the  hills,  and  that  most 
extensive  and  celebrated  of  all,  the  Poyang,  lays  away  to  the  far 
south,  like  an  ocean  with  a  horizon  of  silver.  We  bag  numerous 
pheasants,  magnificent  birds  with  gorgeous  plumage,  in  these 
woods,  wild  duck  and  snipe  on  the  borders  of  the  lakes ;  and  one 
of  our  party  was  fortunate  enough  to  bring  home  a  fine  roe-deer 
as  the  result  of  his  day’s  sport. 

22 d.  We  made  a  good  bag  to-day,  but  it  was  not  enough  to  con¬ 
sole  us  for  the  melancholy  intelligence  we  received  on  our  return 
to  the  ships  of  the  non-existence  of  any  channel,  and  the  still  more 
melancholy  determination  that  had  been  arrived  at,  in  conse¬ 
quence,  of  deserting  the  Furious  and  Cruiser,  and  proceeding  to 
Shanghai  in  the  Dove  and  Lee. 

28c?.  This  day  was  spent  in  condoling  with  our  shipmates  of  the 
last  year  on  the  gloomy  prospect  in  store  for  them  of  a  winter  in 
the  heart  of  China,  for  there  seemed  no  hope  of  a  rise  in  the  river 
before  spring.  It  was  a  day  of  sighs  and  lamentation,  bustle  and 
confusion— the  rapid  transfer  of  the  accumulated  effects  of  a  year 
to  the  limited  capacities  of  a  gun-boat — the  abandonment  of  much 
in  despair — the  packing,  condensing,  and  the  breakage  and  ejacu¬ 
lations  incidental  thereto ;  lastly,  the  final  meeting  of  a  spasmod¬ 
ically  jovial  character,  protracted  until  a  late  hour  of  the  evening, 
when  pathetic  songs,  extemporized  for  the  occasion,  were  sung, 
and  the  memories  of  scenes  of  interest  and  adventure  were  recall¬ 
ed  for  the  last  time. 

We  all  turned  in  with  heavy  hearts  for  the  last  night,  as  we 
supposed,  on  board  the  Furious. 


WE  ABANDON  THE  FURIOUS.— CHRISTMAS  DAY.  539 

24 th.  The  sky  was  weeping  in  unison  with  our  feelings  this 
morning.  It  seemed  almost  shabby  to  desert  Captain  Osborn 
after  his  unwearied  exertions  and  splendid  achievements,  and  to 
abandon  our  old  home,  with  all  its  kind  and  friendly  occupants ; 
but  the  necessity  was  inevitable ;  so  we  resigned  ourselves  to  the 
inexorable  decrees  of  fate,  and  made  the  Lee  as  comfortable  as  her 
accommodation  would  permit.  Then,  when  all  was  ready,  Lord 
Elgin  addressed  Captain  Osborn,  the  officers  and  ship’s  company 
of  the  Furious,  in  a  few  stirring  words,  expressive  of  the  regret  he 
felt  on  being  now  compelled  to  leave  them ;  and  we  parted  with 
many  good  wishes  from  our  naval  companions,  with  every  one 
of  whom,  during  our  long  residence  on  board,  we  had  been  upon 
terms  of  the  utmost  intimacy  and  good-fellowship.  Adverting  to 
this  incident  in  his  dispatch  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  Lord  Elgin 
says :  11  On  personal  grounds,  I  left  the  Furious  with  great  regret. 
For  upward  of  a  year  I  had  had  my  home  on  board  of  her,  dur¬ 
ing  the  whole  of  which  period  I  never  once  heard  that  it  was  dif¬ 
ficult  for  the  Furious  to  go  any  where  or  to  do  any  thing  that  the 
interests  of  the  public  service  rendered  it  in  my  j  udgment  desira¬ 
ble  to  attempt.”*  Then  came  the  final  salute,  and  then  we  cheer¬ 
ed  each  other  as  long  as  we  could  respectively  be  heard,  to  the 
intense  astonishment  of  a  body  of  imperial  troops,  who  were  ap¬ 
parently  occupied  in  “matchlock  drill”  on  the  north  bank  of  the 
river. 

2 5th.  Our  Christmas-day  was  of  the  most  lugubrious  and  dole¬ 
ful  description.  Notwithstanding  the  praise  worthy  efforts  of  our 
most  attentive  host,  Lieutenant  (now  Commander)  Jones,  it  was 
impossible  to  be  very  lively.  A  storm  of  sleet  and  snow  swept 
over  the  exposed  deck  of  our  tiny  craft,  and  reduced  us  to  the 
condition  of  amphibious  animals  whenever  we  emerged  from  the 
cabin.  Unfortunately,  the  alternative  of  remaining  there  was 
scarcely  to  be  preferred.  It  is  most  probable  that  no  one  of  my 
readers,  except  those  who  composed  the  party  on  that  occasion, 
knows  what  it  is  to  form  one  of  twelve  first-class  passengers  in  a 
gun-boat’s  cabin.  Mr.  Jones,  to  whom  the  problem  first  presented 
itself  of  how  to  stow  away  this  invasion  of  barbarians,  made  an 
elaborate  diagram  of  his  guests  as  he  intended  they  should  appear 
in  bed.  Each  man  was  allowed  an  inch  less  than  his  height,  and 
the  smallest  of  the  party  was  put  upon  a  book-shelf,  and  formed 

*  Blue-Book,  p.  446. 


I 


590 


CLOSE  STOWAGE.— APPROACH  NGAN-KING. 


an  admirable  substitute  for  tlie  light  reading  which  it  usually 
contained.  Two  men  were  in  cots  swung  over  the  only  table; 
two  more  occupied  the  said  only  table ;  and  two  more,  stretched 
underneath,  used  the  same  article  of  furniture  as  a  four-poster. 
When  we  were  not  all  asleep,  some  of  us  were  washing  and  dress¬ 
ing,  and  the  remainder  waiting  in  the  rain  on  deck  for  their  turn. 
When  all  the  toilettes  had  been  performed,  the  meals  were  begun ; 
and  when  the  meals  were  over,  the  fumes  of  cavendish  pervaded 
the  atmosphere  until  it  was  bedtime,  and  we  all  fitted  into  one 
another  again  like  herrings  in  a  barrel. 

By  the  time  eight  days  and  nights  had  been  thus  profitably 
and  sociably  employed,  we  could  readily  appreciate  the  merits  of 
a  description  of  craft  which  are  a  credit  to  the  British  navy. 
“As  I  think,”  says  Lord  Elgin,  in  the  dispatch  above  alluded  to, 
“that  these  useful  vessels  (gun-boats)  are  not  always  sufficiently 
appreciated,  I  would  beg  leave  to  call  your  lordships’  attention  to 
the  fact  that  the  Lee,  with  the  aid  of  a  junk,  which  she  towed  part 
of  the  way,  and  eventually  discarded,  conveyed  safely  the  whole 
mission,  servants  included,  from  Kew-kiang  to  Shanghai,  a  dis¬ 
tance  of  some  450  miles,  through  an  intricate  navigation,  and  a 
country  equivocally  disposed  toward  us.  It  rained  incessantly, 
and  we  were  rather  closely  packed ;  but  the  obliging  attentions 
of  Lieutenant  Jones  enabled  us  to  bear  with  these  trifling  incon¬ 
veniences.”*  Poor  little  Lee !  bravely  did  she  do  her  part  wher¬ 
ever  there  was  work  to  be  done ;  nor  did  she  in  her  last  hour  dis¬ 
grace  the  flag  that  still  remained  flying  at  her  mast-head.  After 
riding  out  a  typhoon  on  the  coast  of  Japan,  running  the  gauntlet 
of  the  batteries  at  Nankin,  and  escaping  the  dangers  of  the  Yang- 
tse-Kiang,  the  Lee  left  her  bones  at  last  on  the  mud-banks  of  the 
Peiho,  where,  riddled  and  shattered  by  shot,  and  with  seventeen 
out  of  her  small  crew  killed  and  wounded  on  her  deck,  she  sank 
beneath  the  feet  of  her  gallant  commander. 

We  anchored  for  the  night  within  sight  of  the  batteries  of 
Ngan-king. 

2 6th.  I  can  best  describe  the  proceedings  of  the  earlier  part  of 
this  day  by  quoting  from  the  Blue-Book  a  few  lines  from  Lord 
Elgin’s  dispatch  and  Mr.  Wade’s  report. 

“The  course,”  says  his  excellency,  “to  be  taken  in  passing 
Ngan-king  was  a  matter  which  required  consideration,  as  I  have 

*  Blue-Book ,  p.  446. 


MR.  WADE’S  VISIT  TO  THE  REBELS. 


591 


already  mentioned.  We  were  fired  at  when  we  reached  it  on  our 
way  up ;  and  the  nature  of  the  channel  compelled  us,  on  our  re¬ 
turn,  to  steer  so  immediately  under  the  city  walls  that  our  decks 
could  easily  have  been  swept  from  them  by  gingalls.  When 
attacked  in  passing  it  previously,  the  gun-boats  were  accompanied 
by  two  large  vessels.  They  were  alone  and  unsupported  when 
we  arrived  before  it  on  our  route  downward.  It  was,  moreover, 
important  to  insure  a  safe  passage,  not  only  for  ourselves,  but  for 
such  other  vessels  as  might  be  sent  up  from  time  to  time  to  com¬ 
municate  with  the  Furious  and  Cruiser. 

u  In  order  to  attain  these  objects,  I  thought  it  necessary  to  take 
a  pretty  high  tone  with  the  rebel  authorities. 

“  Mr.  Wade  was  accordingly  sent  on  shore  at  an  early  hour  on 
the  26th  of  December  to  deliver  a  message,  the  nature  and  satis¬ 
factory  result  of  which  are  described  in  his  report.  To  menace 
with  capture  by  two  small  gun-boats  a  great  city,  walled  and 
garrisoned,  might  have  been  bad  taste  elsewhere,  but  in  China  it 
was  the  proper  thing  to  do.” 

The  following  is  Mr.  Wade’s  report  of  the  result  of  his  mission 
to  the  rebels  at  Ngan-king : 

11  On  the  evening  of  the  26th  of  December,  as  the  gun-boats  ap¬ 
proached  Ngan-king,  by  desire  of  his  excellency  the  Earl  of  Elgin, 
I  proceeded  in  the  Dove  to  communicate  with  the  insurgent  gar¬ 
rison  who  had  fired  upon  our  squadron  on  its  way  up.  Night 
set  in  very  suddenly,  and  running  on  in  the  darkness,  we  found 
ourselves  but  a  few  hundred  yards  from  the  walls.  It  seemed  to 
us  that  we  were  seen.  Lights  were  visible  here  and  there  along 
the  walls,  and  junks  appeared  to  be  moving  across  the  channel 
ahead  of  us.  Having  had  no  opportunity  of  testing  the  disposi¬ 
tion  of  the  garrison  since  we  exchanged  shots  with  them  on  the 
26th  of  November,  I  did  not  think  it  advisable  to  discharge  my 
mission  without  being  able  to  see  my  way,  and  accordingly  re¬ 
turned  to  the  Lee.  On  the  following  morning,  about  8  o’clock, 
Lieutenant  Bullock,  of  the  Actason,  called  for  me.  It  was  raining 
heavily,  and  red  umbrellas  multiplied  along  the  shore  as  the  boat 
approached  the  city.  The  bearers  were  dressed  in  the  gaudy  blue 
and  red,  which  gave  the  rebel  forces  a  picturesque  appearance. 
A  large  red  flag  was  waved,  probably  to  direct  our  course,  which, 
however,  lay  toward  the  point  it  indicated,  namely,  the  upper  or 


592 


MR.  WADE’S  REPORT. 


southwestern  angle  of  the  walled  position.  In  advance  of  this,  a 
rude  chevaux-de-frise  of  some  yards’  width  protected  the  slope, 
and  the  inner  batteries,  which  are  of  a  yellow  stone,  apparently 
easy  to  work,  were  finished  with  some  neatness.  Three  or  four 
of  the  crowd  detached  themselves  to  receive  us.  One,  almost  a 
boy,  carried  a  large  red  flag  on  the  usual  spear-staff;  but,  with 
this  exception,  I  saw  no  signs  of  arms  in  the  hands  of  any  one, 
and,  except  some  wretched-looking  guns  in  the  embrasures,  noth¬ 
ing  of  the  character  of  hostile  preparation.  Being  informed  by 
one  of  these  people  that  the  chiefs  were  all  Cantonese,  I  desired 
to  speak  with  one,  and  a  young  man  came  forward  from  the  mass 
assembled  under  a  gate  through  which  the  path  led  from  the 
point  off  which  the  boat  was  lying.  He  was,  I  found,  a  native  of 
Kwang-si,  but  speaking  very  good  Cantonese.  He  afterward 
stated  himself  to  be  the  third  in  authority.  I  told  him  I  was  di¬ 
rected  to  inquire  why  the  garrison  had,  without  any  provocation, 
fired  on  her  majesty’s  ships  bound  up  the  river.  The  chief  said 
it  was  a  mistake  due  to  the  ignorance  of  some  of  the  provincials 
in  their  garrison,  not  Canton  or  Kwang-si  men.  The  latter  were 
unaware  of  the  circumstance  until  the  ships  were  some  way  past 
the  city.  They  then  recognized  the  English  flag  (‘  Ta  Ying  Ki’). 
The  thing  would  never  happen  again.  I  recommended  him  to  be 
careful.  We  had  no  wish  to  begin  a  quarrel  with  any  who  did 
not  interfere  with  us,  and  I  had  purposely  been  sent  because  it 
was  the  British  minister’s  desire  not  to  take  life  without  occasion ; 
but  that  our  vessels  would  be  going  up  and  down,  perhaps  next 
month,  perhaps  the  month  after ;  and,  although  we  had  no  desire 
to  side  with  either  party  in  the  civil  war  now  waging,  if  any  one 
attacked  us  we  should  resent  it  as  we  had  done  at  Nankin,  where 
the  garrison  had  fired  on  us  as  we  were  passing,  and  we  had,  in 
consequence,  destroyed  their  forts. 

“  ‘  Oh  yes,’  said  the  chief,  ‘  we  have  heard  of  what  happened  at 
Nankin ;’  and  then  repeated  his  excuses  in  even  more  apologetic 
phrase  than  before,  for  the  mistake  of  his  own  people.  He  said 
they  would  send  a  present  of  oxen  and  other  provisions  to  our 
great  man.  This  I  of  course  declined.  He  also  invited  me,  as 
had  one  or  two  of  the  others,  to  land,  and  pay  the  principal  chief, 
a  Cantonese,  a  visit.  This  I  also  declined,  saying  that  I  was  sent 
to  deliver  the  message  which  I  had  given,  and  which  I  now  once 
more  repeated,  adding  that  they  no  doubt  knew  how  simple  a 


ARRIVAL  AT  WOOHOO.—  A  REBEL  COMMUNICATION.  593 

matter  it  would  be  for  us  to  sweep  them  away  utterly,  were  we 
provoked  to  do  it.  To  this  he  assented,  with  the  same  evidence 
of  conviction  he  had  given  when  I  mentioned  Nankin.  As  I 
pushed  off  he  used  the  common  Cantonese  salutation,  ‘  Go  well !’ 
‘Good  luck !’  etc. 

“  The  crowd  generally  seemed  to  me  in  better  case  than  the 
Woohoo  rebels,  more  healthy -looking,  and  better  dressed.  One 
of  them,  who  was  much  the  reverse,  however,  had  pushed  himself 
forward,  and  addressed  me  in  Cantonese  English.  He  volunteer¬ 
ed  the  information  that  he  came  from  Whampoa,  and  bore  other 
marks,  besides  his  acquaintance  with  our  language,  of  subjection 
to  our  influences.  He  looked,  what  I  have  no  doubt  he  was,  an 
opium-smoking  coolie.  The  majority  seemed  to  me  to  hold  back, 
and  but  a  small  number  came  to  the  boat’s  side.”* 

Passing  the  rebel  batteries  unmolested,  we  made  a  long  day’s 
run,  and  anchored  for  the  night  at  Toongling. 

27th.  We  just  succeeded  in  reaching  the  Retribution  at  Woo¬ 
hoo  before  the  light  failed  us.  Captain  Barker  kindly  placed  his 
accommodation  at  the  disposal  of  the  mission ;  but,  as  we  were 
quite  unconscious  of  feeling  crowded,  and  enjoyed  each  other’s 
animal  heat  in  the  cold  weather,  we  remained  in  possession  of  the 
cabin  of  the  Lee. 

Captain  Barker  had,  since  his  arrival  at  Woohoo,  received  an 
apologetic  note  relative  to  the  affair  which  had  occurred  near  Tai- 
ping  on  our  way  up.  It  was  probably  intended  for  Lord  Elgin, 
and  ran  as  follows:  “Some  time  since,  when  your  excellency 
honored  our  humble  place  with  a  visit,  certain  ignorant  people  in 
our  central  station  (or  barrier)  fired  upon  you  by  mistake,  on 
which  our  Heavenly  King,  Ilung-siu-tsuen,  decapitated  all  these 
ignorant  scoundrels.  Your  ships  being  still  in  movement,  Hung- 
siu-tsuen  could  not  catch  them  to  make  his  apologies,  and  there¬ 
fore  sent  instructions  to  us,  your  younger  brethren,  to  transmit  his 
decree ;  but  as  your  honored  vessels  continued  on  their  way,  we 
failed  to  overtake  them ;  and  as  there  were  demon  vessels  (impe¬ 
rialist)  also  barring  the  way,  we  confined  ourselves  for  the  time 
to  making  a  report  to  the  Heavenly  King,  and  waited  here  for  the 
return  of  your  honored  vessel,  to  pay  our  respects  to  you  in  per¬ 
son,  and  to  receive  from  your  own  mouth  your  commands,  on 

*  Blue-Book ,  p.  448. 


594 


WE  LAND  AT  NANKIN. 


which  we  will  make  our  report  to  the  Heavenly  King.  We  ac¬ 
cordingly  send  a  person  in  advance  to  welcome  your  excellency.” 

28$.  This  day  wTas  a  somewhat  anxious  one,  as  we  were  uncer¬ 
tain  whether  the  Retribution  would  clear  the  bar  below  Tai-ping ; 
fortunately,  she  went  over,  with  one  inch  to  spare. 

29 th.  Reached  Nankin  about  midday.  The  extremely  apolo¬ 
getic  tone  of  the  communication  above  quoted  seemed  to  Lord 
Elgin  to  open  the  door  to  farther  intercourse  with  the  rebels  at 
Nankin.  He  therefore  sent  Messrs.  Wade,  Lay,  Wylie,  and  my¬ 
self  on  shore,  to  pay  a  visit  to  the  authorities  and  pick  up  inform¬ 
ation. 

We  landed  on  the  south  bank,  at  one  of  the  forts  which  had 
been  most  pertinacious  in  its  fire  on  our  way  up.  All  was  silent 
now,  and  we  felt  some  slight  hesitation  in  stepping  on  shore,  with 
such  slender  knowledge  of  the  dispositions  of  the  brave  garrison 
toward  us.  Presently  a  few  ragged  soldiers  emerged  from  a  gate¬ 
way,  as  little  prepossessed  by  our  looks  as  we  were  by  theirs. 
However,  our  object  was  to  reach  the  city,  and  we  now  found 
that  the  nearest  part  of  the  suburb  was  at  least  a  mile  distant. 
Thither  we  determined  on  proceeding,  and  traversed  on  foot  a 
muddy  plain  under  a  pitiless  snow-storm.  A  boy,  whom  we 
pressed  into  service  as  a  guide,  led  us  through  some  narrow  lanes 
to  an  official  residence  of  inferior  description,  where  the  officer  in 
command  of  the  troops  of  this  division  had  his  head-quarters. 
As  our  last  communication  with  this  gentleman  had  been  in  the 
shape  of  a  cannon  ball,  and  no  formal  interchange  of  amicable 
sentiments  had  passed  since,  we  felt  a  little  uncertain  as  to  the 
view  he  would  take  of  this  unceremonious  visit  on  the  part  of 
four  of  his  late  enemies.  We  soon  discovered  that  his  intention 
was  to  detain  us  by  polite  speeches,  and  send  for  instructions. 
As  this  did  not  suit  our  views,  and  we  found  four  very  nice  po¬ 
nies  tethered  in  his  court-yard  belonging  to  some  of  his  staff,  we 
decided  on  appropriating  them,  and  pursuing  our  way  into  the 
city.  Finding  all  remonstrances  useless- as  we  speedily  untied 
and  mounted  them,  the  general — for  such  we  found  to  be  his  rank 
— furnished  us  with  a  guide,  and  soon  after  a  courier  passed  us  at 
full  speed,  doubtless  conveying  to  the  authorities  within  the  walls 
the  intelligence  of  our  approach. 

We  skirted  the  city  walls  for  upward  of  six  miles  before  we 
found  the  gate  at  which  we  were  intended  to  enter ;  on  our  way 


VISIT  TO  A  REBEL  CHIEF.— REPORT  OF  THE  INTERVIEW.  595 

we  passed  the  spot  on  which  stood  formerly  the  Porcelain  Tower, 
but  not  a  fragment  is  left  to  mark  the  site  of  this  once  celebrated 
monument. 

Entering  the  city  through  a  massive  gateway  furnished  with  a 
portcullis,  we  traversed  for  upward  of  a  mile  its  deserted  streets 
before  we  reached  the  residence  of  one  of  the  rebel  chiefs  named 
Le.  This  dignitary  met  us  at  the  door,  and  conducted  us  to  his 
audience-chamber.  Here  donning  an  elaborately  embroidered 
head-dress,  which  was  a  combination  of  a  bishop’s  mitre  and  a 
fool’s-cap,  he  seated  himself  in  his  chair  of  state,  and  solemnly 
awaited  our  statement.  This  high  functionary  was  dressed  in  a 
somewhat  similar  costume  to  his  colleague  at  Woohoo :  a  robe  of 
yellow  reached  from  his  neck  to  his  heels.  The  only  ornamental 
portions  of  his  dress  were  his  shoes  and  his  cap :  the  former  were 
of  a  most  brilliant  pattern ;  the  latter  was  covered  with  dragons, 
and,  Mr.  Wylie  alleged,  was  an  imitation  of  the  cap  of  office  worn 
during  the  Ming  dynasty. 

As  the  conversation  was  carried  on  between  Le  and  Mr.  Wade, 
I  will  give  this  gentleman’s  report  of  what  passed  in  his  own 
words:  “We  stated  the  object  of  our  visit,  which  was  to  inform 
the  garrison  that  we  had  received  the  explanation  forwarded  to 
Woohoo  of  the  mistake  they  had  made  in  firing  upon  her  majes¬ 
ty’s  ships,  and  that,  as  we  had  ships  now  up  the  river,  others  would 
be  probably  going  and  returning,  interference  with  which  would 
oblige  us  to  resent  it  as  before.  Le  was  apologetic,  but  without 
servility.  He  seemed  more  anxious  to  take  us  on  the  religious 
side,  beginning  again  and  again  that  we  were  brothers  of  one  fam¬ 
ily  as  Christians,  but  this  in  a  constrained  way,  without  impress¬ 
iveness  or  enthusiasm.  He  Said  that  Hung-siu-tsuen  was  still 
Taiping-wang,  and  had  not  been,  as  we  had  understood,  succeeded 
by  his  son. 

“We  asked  for  the  Eastern  King,  who,  it  was  long  since  report¬ 
ed,  had  been  slain  in  a  fray.  This  was  an  embarrassing  question; 
but,  after  a  moment’s  hesitation,  he  replied  that  Yang  was  in 
heaven ;  and  to  a  farther  question,  that  he  was  succeeded  in  his 
honors  and  functions  by  his  son.  The  number  of  his  own  force 
he  put  at  several  hundreds  of  thousands.  He  himself  was  Gov¬ 
ernor  General  of  Kiang-nan,  and,  as  we  afterward  heard,  chief  ex¬ 
ecutive  authority  in  Nankin.  He  called  himself  an  officer  or  no¬ 
ble  of  the  third  degree,  and  wore  on  his  high  cap  the  badge,  Yih- 


596 


OUR  INTERVIEW  WITH  LE. 


tien-fuk.  The  last  character  appears  to  mark  kis  degree  of  nobil¬ 
ity,  though  it  properly  means  happiness  or  blessings.  The  two 
first  mean  to  advantage  heaven.  We  asked  for  any  new  books 
he  might  have,  but  the  few  he  could  produce  were  almost  all  the 
same  with  those  brought  down  from  Nankin  in  1853  by  Sir  George 
Bonham.  In  one,  a  calendar  for  the  coming  year,  Yang  still  fig¬ 
ures  as  the  Eastern  King.  Le  promised  us  more  books  if  we 
would  stay  the  night ;  we  could  then  visit  the  court  of  the  Heav¬ 
enly  Kingdom.  W e  had  already  requested  permission  to  do  this, 
but  Le  declared  that,  unless  bidden  thither,  he  could  not  present 
himself.  One  of  his  attendants,  an  intelligent-looking  bonze-like 
personage,  appeared  rather  amused  at  our  eagerness  about  the 
books.  He  and  the  rest  of  the  Chinese  present,  who  were  not 
very  numerous,  crowded  in  with  as  little  restraint  as  at  Woohoo, 
and  sat  where  they  pleased. 

“We  asked  to  see  their  place  of  worship;  but,  though  one  of 
them  at  first  seemed  to  say  that  there  was  one  at  no  great  dis¬ 
tance,  Le  interfered  to  observe  that  the  brethren  celebrated  their 
worship  every  day  in  their  own  houses,  and  assembled  on  the  Sab¬ 
bath  at  the  Yu-tai  (Jewish  ?)  temple  in  the  king’s  court.  This  led 
to  some  inquiry  regarding  their  days  in  the  week,  but  we  failed 
to  ascertain  whether  they  keep  their  Sabbath  on  the  first  or  the 
seventh  day,  inasmuch  as  they  certainly  were  at  issue  as  to  the 
place  of  the  Wednesday  we  were  then  passing  with  them.  So 
much  of  the  day  had  been  consumed  by  our  long  ride,  that  wTe 
were  unable  to  stay  more  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour  with  Le.  Be¬ 
fore  our  departure  we  again  referred  to  the  question  of  our  ships. 
He  begged  that,  if  we  were  coming  by,  we  would  let  the  garrison 
know,  in  which  case  there  would  be  no  chance  of  collision.  In 
accordance  with  our  instructions,  we  told  him  that  steps  should  be 
taken  to  this  end,  and,  declining  refreshment,  we  departed.” 

We  had  determined  to  return  to  the  river  through  the  city  in¬ 
stead  of  skirting  its  walls,  and  therefore,  despite  the  usual  remon¬ 
strances  at  our  independent  behavior,  started  off*  on  foot  in  the  di¬ 
rection  we  wished  to  go,  for  we  could  not  depend  upon  a  guide  ; 
but,  after  effectually  losing  ourselves  under  our  own  guidance,  we 
ultimately  got  back  to  the  yamun,  and  Le,  finding  us  obstinate, 
ordered  a  good-natured-looking  man,  of  small  military  rank,  to 
conduct  us  to  the  river-gate.  By  this  time  it  had  got  dusk,  and 
we  had  still  a  walk  of  five  or  six  miles  before  us.  The  night  was 


MORALS  OF  THE  REBELS. 


597 


thick  and  sleety,  and  in  the  course  of  that  long,  dreary  trudge  we 
became  quite  intimate  with  our  guide.  At  first,  and  while  his 
companions  were  within  earshot,  he  declared  that  the  resources 
of  the  rebels  were  abundant,  and  spoke  in  Mandarin ;  but  dur¬ 
ing  our  solitary  walk  through  the  wooded  park-like  country 
which  is  inclosed  within  the  walls  of  the  city  of  Nankin,  he  re¬ 
lapsed  into  the  Canton  dialect,  and  confided  to  us  a  very  different 
state  of  matters.  The  rebels,  he  said,  were  reduced  to  great  ex¬ 
tremities  for  supplies ;  and  he  was  confirmed  in  this  assertion  by 
the  proclamations  of  Le,  which  we  saw  on  the  walls,  calling  on  the 
people  to  subscribe. 

Our  guide  also  asked  Mr.  Wade  if  he  could  not  take  him  on 
board  one  of  the  English  ships  to  escape.  This,  he  was  told,  was 
impossible,  on  which  he  expressed  his  desire  to  trade  in  opium  or 
small-arms.  He  himself  smoked,  and  so,  he  said,  did  one  third  of 
the  people  of  Nankin ;  not  openly,  however,  for  indulgence  in  the 
drug  is  forbidden  by  law,  nor  is  it  publicly  sold.  He  said  that, 
although  there  were  not  many  men  in  Nankin,  there  were  four 
large  rebel  forces  in  existence — one  in  the  Kwang  provinces,  one 
in  Fuh-kien,  one  in  Cheh-kiang,  and  one  in  Ngan-hwui :  the  last 
was  very  numerous.  He  spoke  of  the  imperialists,  not  as  the  reb¬ 
els  usually  affect  to  do,  as  demons  or  imps,  but  as  the  troops  of 
government.  They  always  fled,  he  said,  when  the  rebels  attacked 
them ;  but  he  admitted  that  the  rebels,  when  attacked,  also  fled, 
so  that  the  war  was  likely  to  last  long  enough.  He  also  told  us 
that  polygamy  was  the  order  of  the  day.  The  Heavenly  King 
had  300  wives,  and  he  himself  admitted  to  having  had  a  very 
pretty  bride  allotted  to  him  recently.  The  captured  women  are 
distributed  among  the  soldiers ;  and  we  observed  some  pleasing 
female  faces  as  we  passed  along  the  streets. 

The  captured  men  are  pressed  into  the  service,  and  tied  to¬ 
gether,  and  put  into  the  front  rank  when  they  go  into  action. 

The  only  form  of  prayer  that  our  guide  knew  was  a  short  grace 
said  before  meals,  which  he  repeated.  Sometimes  they  knelt,  and 
the  teacher  prayed,  but  they  never  understood  what  he  said. 
Three  officers  and  twenty  men  had,  he  said,  been  killed  by  the 
fire  of  our  ships  on  the  way  up  the  river. 

The  city  of  Nankin  was  occupied  exclusively  by  rebel  forces. 
We  did  not  observe  a  single  shop,  nor  was  there  any  person  en¬ 
gaged  in  trade.  Many  of  the  streets  were  entirely  deserted,  and 


598 


STRENGTH  OF  THE  GARRISON. 


the  houses  unoccupied.  A  vast  portion  of  the  area  within  the 
walls  has  never  been  built  upon,  while  yamuns  and  public  build¬ 
ings  still  exist  to  attest  its  former  magnificence.  The  most  re¬ 
markable  of  these  was  the  Choong-koo-low,  or  Central  Drum  Tow¬ 
er,  under  which  we  passed. 

The  present  strength  of  the  rebel  garrison  is  estimated  at  from 
10,000  to  15,000  men ;  that  of  the  besieging  force  at  double  that 
number.  The  only  hope  of  the  latter  seems  to  be  to  starve  out 
the  insurgents,  for  which  end  they  have  stopped  up  all  thorough¬ 
fare  by  the  three  sides  landward,  and  merely  left  open  the  side  to¬ 
ward  the  river,  which  the  rebels  have  secured  by  forts  on  both 
sides  of  the  Yang-tse,  thus  retaining  to  themselves  liberty  of  egress 
at  pleasure.  Six  out  of  the  thirteen  gates  which  formerly  gave 
access  to  the  city  are  open,  the  rest  are  bricked  up. 

The  centre  of  authority  is  evidently  within  the  city,  but  there 
are  circumstances  which  throw  a  doubt  over  the  existence  of 
Hung-siu-tsuen,  although  his  followers  all  speak  of  him  as  still 
living,  and  edicts  are  issued  under  his  name,  with  the  title  “  Teen- 
wang”  (Celestial  prince).  The  evidence  is  more  complete  as  to  the 
death  of  the  four  secondary  princes  —  North,  South,  East,  and 
West.  Two  of  these  were  killed  in  battle,  and  the  others,  who 
held  their  courts  at  Nankin,  became  the  victims  of  internal  feuds. 
Successors  are  said  to  have  been  appointed  to  the  East,  West,  and 
South  princes — all  minors.  Besides  the  prime  minister  Tsin,  who, 
it  is  whispered,  personates  the  prince,  the  resident  executive  chiefs 
seem  to  be  four  men,  named  Chin,  Le,  Mung,  and  Sin,  and  these 
have  their  offices  within  the  city.  The  assistant  prince,  Shih  Ta- 
kae,  was  reported  to  be  at  the  head  of  the  army  in  Euh-kien,  on 
the  east  of  Kiang-si. 

There  are  twenty -four  chief,  and  the  same  number  of  secondary 
ministers  of  state,  who  are  distributed  in  various  parts  of  the  in¬ 
surgent  territory.  Most  of  the  offices  of  trust  are  held  by  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  original  confederation,  the  majority  being  Kwang-tung 
or  Kwang-si  men. 

It  will  be  seen  that  our  intercourse  with  the  rebels,  though  more 
extensive  than  that  of  any  foreigners  hitherto,  has  not  been  of  a 
character  to  enable  us  to  acquire  any  very  minute  details  with 
reference  to  their  religious  tenets.  Mr.  Wylie,  who  had  for  some 
years  watched  with  interest  the  progress  of  the  rebellion,  was  of 
opinion  that  the  religious  eccentricities  which  began  to  appear 


THE  REBEL  THEOLOGY. 


599 


soon  after  its  commencement  are  now  assuming  such  prominence 
as  to  threaten  the  extinction  of  the  vital  truths  of  Christianity. 
The  supremacy  of  their  chief,  Hung-siu-tsuen,  they  seem  disposed 
to  insist  on,  exalting  him  to  divine  honors  as  the  third  in  rank, 
below  whom  all  believers  in  Jesus  are  junior  brethren.  Whether 
any  large  number  of  them  believe  in  the  divine  mission  of  Hung 
is,  Mr.  Wylie  thinks,  questionable ;  and  it  is  to  be  feared  that 
skepticism  is  equally  prevalent  regarding  the  better  parts  of  their 
professed  creed.  The  destruction  of  temples  and  idols  is  still  in¬ 
sisted  on,  as  we  saw  by  the  fragments  of  images  which  strewed 
the  streets ;  and  proclamations  were  posted  up,  urging  the  extir¬ 
pation  of  idolatry  in  every  form.  This  does  not  extend  to  the  an¬ 
cestral  temples,  however,  these  being  universally  respected,  which 
implies  that  the  worship  there  is  in  harmony  with  their  profes¬ 
sion. 

The  doctrines  of  their  religion,  in  so  far  as  they  are  expounded 
in  their  public  .documents,  appear  to  consist  of  an  extraordinary 
jumble  of  Jewish  polity,  Christian  theology,  and  Chinese  philos¬ 
ophy.  The  result,  as  tested  by  our  observation,  was  very  much 
what  might  have  been  expected  from  so  incongruous  a  compound. 
We  found  the  rebels  making  war  like  Jews,  living  like  the  worst 
description  of  professing  Christians,  and  believing  like — China¬ 
men  ! 


600 


TEE  YAN G-TSE-KIAN G  COMMERCIALLY  CONSIDERED. 


CHAPTER  XLI. 

The  Yang-tse-Kiang  commercially  considered. — Sensation  on  our  Arrival. — Sudden 
Appearance  of  the  Furious. — The  secret  Edict. — Correspondence  with  the  Commis¬ 
sioners. — The  Affairs  of  Canton. — Result  of  the  Correspondence. — Decree  publish¬ 
ed  in  the  “Pekin  Gazette.’’ — Departure  from  Shanghai. — Military  Promenades 
near  Canton. — Expedition  to  Fayune. — A  Voyage  to  Hainan. — Adieu  to  China. — 
Arrival  at  Malta. 

As  Lord  Elgin  was  anxious  to  reach  Shanghai  in  time  for  the 
mail,  we  pushed  on  in  the  Lee,  leaving  the  Dove  to  pilot  the  Ret¬ 
ribution  through  the  more  intricate  navigation.  We  performed 
the  voyage  from  Kew-kiang  to  the  mouth  of  the  Shanghai  River 
in  a  week.  When  we  remember  that  this  was  at  the  dryest  season 
$f  the  year,  and  our  gun-boat  drew  eight  feet  of  water,  we  are  forced 
to  admit  the  capabilities  of  the  great  river  of  China  for  purposes  of 
navigation.  When,  however,  steamers  built  expressly  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  begin  to  ply  on  this  great  channel  of  internal  communication, 
they  will  find  that  their  success  depends,  not  upon  the  depth  of 
water,  but  upon  the  nature  of  the  competition  with  which  they 
will  have  to  contend.  If  river- tugs  can  tow  flats  at  a  cheaper  rate 
than  the  Chinese  can  work  barges  upon  the  canals  and  inner  wa¬ 
ters  of  the  country,  then  the  Yang-tse-Kiang  will  become  the  high¬ 
way  for  British  commerce.  In  any  other  country  in  the  world, 
machinery,  whether  applied  to  steam-ships  or  cotton-mills,  will 
beat  manual  labor.  In  China,  where  a  man’s  work  is  not  worth  a 
farthing  a  day,  his  labor  takes  a  higher  place  in  competition  with 
steam-power.  We  have  failed  to  substitute  to  any  extent  in  Chi¬ 
na  cotton  manufactured  by  machinery  for  that  manufactured  by 
the  hand ;  let  us  hope  that,  at  all  events,  we  may  succeed  in  re¬ 
placing  junks  by  steamers. 

Where  valuable  cargoes,  such  as  opium,  are  concerned,  there  is 
no  doubt  that  steamers  will  be  preferred  to  the  water-conveyances 
of  the  country ;  but  in  teas  and  heavier  cargoes  the  question  is 
more  problematical. 

If  we  fail,  we  shall  probably  console  ourselves  by  attributing  it 
to  the  influence  of  the  government  in  some  incomprehensible  way. 
Doubtless  the  Chinese  government  has  much  to  answer  for,  but  it 


SENSATION  ON  OUR  ARRIVAL. 


601 


can  not,  and  does  not,  affect  the  fundamental  principles  of  polit¬ 
ical  economy.  Lord  Elgin,  in  referring  to  our  commercial  pros¬ 
pects  in  the  markets  of  the  interior,  thus  alludes  to  this  popular 
delusion  :  aMy  general  impression  is,  that  British  manufacturers 
will  have  to  exert  themselves  to  the  utmost  if  they  intend  to  sup¬ 
plant,  to  any  considerable  extent  in  the  native  market,  the  fabrics 
produced  in  their  leisure  hours,  and  at  intervals  of  rest  from  agri¬ 
cultural  labor,  by  this  industrious,  frugal,  and  sober  population. 
It  is  a  pleasing  but  pernicious  fallacy  to  imagine  that  the  influ¬ 
ence  of  an  intriguing  mandarin  is  to  be  presumed  whenever  a 
buyer  shows  a  preference  for  native  over  foreign  calico.”*  This 
will  be  equally  true  if  he  shows  a  preference  for  native  over  for¬ 
eign  river-craft. 

At  the  same  time,  this  problem — if  problem  it  be — can  not  be 
solved  until  the  rebels  are  dispossessed  of  their  position  for  a 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  upon  the  banks  of  the  Yang-tse-Kiang. 
We  can  not  expect  the  Chinese  government  to  permit  us  to  trade 
with  the  insurgents.  Yor,  if  the  river  is  once  opened  to  the  com¬ 
mercial  enterprise  of  foreigners,  is  it  easy  to  devise  a  system  by 
which  all  intercourse  shall  be  confined  to  those  who  are  well  dis¬ 
posed  toward  the  constituted  authorities  of  the  country. 

The  result,  then,  of  our  six  weeks’  exploration  of  the  great  riv¬ 
er  of  China  had  been  most  satisfactory  as  regards  its  navigable  ca¬ 
pabilities,  and  tolerably  so  in  a  commercial  point  of  view,  if  all 
political  difficulties  were  removed ;  but,  unfortunately,  these  latter 
were  of  a  nature  calculated,  in  a  great  measure,  to  neutralize  all 
other  advantages.  Let  us  hope  that  an  opportunity  may  now  be 
afforded,  which  did  not  present  itself  during  the  period  of  our  dip¬ 
lomatic  experience  in  China,  of  removing  those  obstacles,  and  open¬ 
ing  this  magnificent  highway  to  the  merchants  of  the  world. 

We  steamed  up  to  Shanghai,  and  cast  anchor  among  the  ship¬ 
ping  that  crowded  the  river,  under  the  pleasing  consciousness  that 
we  were  creating  a  sensation.  A  squadron  of  five  ships  had  left 
the  port  six  weeks  ago ;  all  that  returned  of  it  was  a  solitary  gun¬ 
boat,  with  Lord  Elgin’s  flag  flying  at  the  main.  The  public  of 
Shanghai  were  completely  at  fault.  It  had  been  reported  that 
Lord  Elgin,  and  the  rest  of  the  mission,  had  been  captured  and 
sent  in  cages  to  Pekin,  and  that  most  of  the  ships  had  been  sunk, 
and  that  the  Furious  alone  survived  to  tell  the  tale.  That  was 

*  Blue-Book,  p.  446. 


602 


SUDDEN  APPEARANCE  OF  THE  FURIOUS. 


only  to  be  expected;  but  now  it  appeared  that  Lord  Elgin  bad 
returned  without  the  Furious.  This  was  a  much  more  startling 
and  unnatural  phenomenon.  We  were  received  most  cordially 
by  a  knot  of  inquirers,  who  greeted  us  as  we  landed  on  the  bund, 
and  all  derived  thorough  satisfaction  from  the  intelligence  of  two 
British  ships  being  fixed  for  the  winter  in  the  heart  of  China. 
Could  any  method  have  been  devised  by  which  the  country  would 
be  more  inevitably  opened  up?  What  prodigies  of  exploration 
might  not  two  such  enterprising  leaders  as  Captain  Osborn  and 
Bythesea,  with  their  officers,  perform  during  a  residence  of  four  or 
five  months  in  the  far  interior  ?  Poor  fellows,  they  would  need 
mental  and  bodily  comforts  of  all  kinds.  The  Dove,  about  to  re¬ 
turn  with  supplies,  was  consequently  loaded  with  light  literature 
and  Bass’s  beer,  woolen  stockings,  No.  4  shot,  cavendish  tobacco, 
wading-boots,  and  every  luxury  or  necessary  that  the  kind-heart¬ 
ed  community  could  contribute,  to  console  them  for  an  existence 
which,  we  all  devoutly  hoped,  for  the  good  of  commerce  generally, 
might  continue  over  many  months. 

Our  astonishment  may  be  imagined  when,  before  we  had  been 
in  Shanghai  a  week,  we  were  startled  about  midnight  by  the  un¬ 
expected  appearance  of  Captain  Osborn  himself.  It  seemed  that 
he  had  taken  advantage  of  a  sudden  rise  of  the  river,  after  heavy 
rains,  to  make  a  flying  leap  over  the  bar,  and  had  come  down  at 
a  slashing  pace  with  our  good  old  ship,  whose  well-known  pro¬ 
portions  were  visible  next  morning  just  off  the  consulate  windows. 

We  found  the  imperial  commissioners  in  a  most  amiable  mood 
on  the  occasion  of  a  visit  of  congratulation  which  they  hastened 
to  pay  Lord  Elgin  on  his  safe  return  from  the  perils  of  the  recent 
river  navigation. 

About  this  time  intelligence  reached  us  from  Canton,  and  gave 
rise  to  a  correspondence  too  important  not  to  be  noticed.  A  body 
of  British  troops,  exercising  in  the  neighborhood  of  Canton,  were 
unexpectedly  attacked  by  a  strong  force  of  braves,  and  though, 
fortunately,  no  serious  loss  was  inflicted,  they  were  compelled  to 
retreat  with  some  haste  to  the  city.  This  wanton  act  of  hostility, 
at  a  time  when  the  imperial  government  was  professing,  through 
its  commissioners  at  Shanghai,  sentiments  of  the  most  affectionate 
and  conciliatory  nature,  called  for  prompt  punishment ;  and  an 
expedition  was  consequently  organized  against  the  small  town  of 
Shek-tsing,  about  seven  miles  distant  from  Canton,  known  as  the 


THE  SECRET  EDICT.— CORRESPONDENCE. 


603 


head-quarters  of  a  large  body  of  the  local  militia.  This  operation 
was  executed  with  great  spirit  and  success.  With  a  loss  of  four 
men  wounded,  we  succeeded  in  destroying  Shek-tsing,  driving  out 
the  braves,  who  dispersed  in  great  confusion,  and  capturing  some 
of  the  private  papers  of  the  commissioners  appointed  by  the  gov¬ 
ernment  to  organize  militia  against  barbarians,  and  popularly 
known  as  the  Fayune  commissioners. 

At  the  same  time,  a  document  of  a  remarkable  character,  which 
had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Parkes,  was  forwarded  by  that 
gentleman  to  Lord  Elgin.  It  purported  to  be  an  edict  secretly 
issued  by  the  government,  inciting  the  braves  to  hostile  action, 
and  indicating  a  policy  so  infamous  and  treacherous  that  Lord 
Elgin  forwarded  it  to  the  commissioners,  with  the  remark  that  his 
excellency  u  refrains  from  any  comment  upon  this  paper,  in  the 
sincere  hope  that  the  commissioners  will  be  enabled  to  assure  him 
that  its  authors,  in  imputing  to  the  emperor  the  insidiously  hos¬ 
tile  policy  which  it  declares,  have  unwarrantably  abused  his  maj¬ 
esty’s  name.”  The  commissioners,  in  reply,  unhesitatingly  affirm 
this  to  have  been  the  case.  u  As  regards  the  document,”  they 
say,  u  to  which  your  letter  refers,  and  of  which  you  have  sent  us 
a  copy,  we  have  the  honor  to  assure  you  most  positively  that, 
after  examining  it  together,  we  entertain  no  doubt  that  it  is  a 
forgery. 

“  The  commissioner  Twan  has  been  in  the  council  (by  which 
they  are  prepared  and  transmitted)  so  many  years,  that  he  is  cer¬ 
tainly  qualified  to  pronounce  upon  that  point,  and  an  inspection 
of  the  document  has  thoroughly  satisfied  him  that  it  is  a  spurious 
composition.” 

Notwithstanding  this  assurance,  Lord  Elgin  was  so  ill  pleased 
with  the  state  of  matters  in  the  south  that  he  determined  to  adopt 
a  tone  in  his  correspondence  which  should  oblige  the  commis¬ 
sioners  to  aid  him  in  remedying  the  evil;  he  therefore  recurred 
to,  and  insisted  upon,  his  original  demand,  that  they  should  pro¬ 
cure  from  the  emperor  the  dismissal  of  Hwang,  the  Governor 
General  of  Kwang-tung,  and  the  dissolution  of  the  committee  of 
gentry,  whose  functions  were  to  organize  braves  ostensibly  for  the 
protection  of  the  country  against  rebels,  but  really  to  disturb  us 
in  our  occupation  of  Canton. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  when  the  commissioners  arrived  at 
Shanghai  at  the  commencement  of  October,  Lord  Elgin  called 


604 


THE  AFFAIRS  OF  CANTON. 


their  attention  to  the  unsatisfactory  position  of  affairs  at  Canton, 
and  informed  them  that  he  declined  to  enter  into  negotiations 
with  them  until  he  should  receive  from  them  the  assurance  that 
Hwang,  the  Governor  General  of  Kwang-tung,  as  well  as  the  chiefs 
of  the  Fayune  committee,  should  be  removed  from  office. 

Their  excellencies  undertook  to  memorialize  the  emperor  for 
the  removal  from  office  of  the  persons  above  named,  and  to  fur¬ 
nish  Lord  Elgin  with  a  copy  of  the  decree  which  the  emperor 
might  issue,  giving  effect  to  the  prayer  of  their  memorial. 

On  the  faith  of  these  assurances  the  embassador  entered  into 
negotiations  with  the  commissioners  on  various  matters,  which  it 
was  important  to  settle  definitively,  with  a  view  to  the  establish¬ 
ment  of  peace,  and  a  good  understanding  between  Great  Britain 
and  China. 

On  our  return  to  Shanghai  after  an  interval  of  three  months, 
when  Lord  Elgin  applied  to  the  commissioners  for  the  copy  of  the 
imperial  decree  which  he  had  been  promised,  he  was  furnished 
with  an  imperial  decree  which,  so  far  from  removing  Hwang  and 
dismissing  the  Fayune  chiefs  from  office,  informs,  the  commission¬ 
ers  that  the  emperor  declines  to  be  guided  in  this  matter  by  their 
advice.  At  the  same  time,  intelligence  is  received  from  Canton 
to  the  effect  that  our  troops  have  been  fired  upon.  Under  these 
circumstances,  Lord  Elgin  informed  the  commissioners  that  he  had 
come  to  the  following  resolutions : 

First.  “  To  hold  no  farther  communication  with  the  imperial 
commissioners  on  the  subject  of  Canton,  as  they  clearly  have  no 
sufficient  authority  from  the  emperor  to  deal  with  this  matter.” 

Second.  “  To  urge  the  military  and  naval  commanders  of  the 
British  forces  at  Canton  to  move  their  troops  freely  about  the 
province,  and  to  punish  severely  any  braves  or  others  who  may 
have  the  temerity  to  molest  them.” 

Lord  Elgin  concludes  by  saying  that  “when  the  undersigned 
(or  his  successor)  proceeds  to  Pekin  for  the  exchange  of  the  rati¬ 
fications  of  the  Treaty  of  Tientsin,  he  will  ascertain  whether  the 
occurrences  at  Canton,  of  which  he  complains,  have  or  have  not 
the  sanction  of  the  emperor,  and  will  act  accordingly.” 

This  missive  had  the  desired  effect.  We  had  reason  to  believe 
that  a  copy  of  it  was  forwarded  to  Pekin  at  the  rate  of  600  le  a 
day ;  and  it  provoked  from  the  commissioners  a  reply,  in  which  a 
positive  assurance  was  given  that  Hwang  and  the  committee  should 


DECREE  PUBLISHED  IN  THE  “PEKIN  GAZETTE.” 


605 


be  removed,  and  the  conduct  of  the  braves  was  denounced  in  the 
strongest  possible  terms.  Before  leaving  China,  Lord  Elgin  had 
the  satisfaction  of  receiving  from  the  commissioners  a  communi¬ 
cation  inclosing  a  copy  of  an  imperial  decree,  transferring  to  Ho, 
the  enlightened  Governor  General  of  the  Two  Kiangs,  the  seal  of 
the  imperial  commissioner  hitherto  held  by  Hwang.  As  this  de¬ 
cree  was  promulgated  avowedly  in  consequence  of  Lord  Elgin’s 
representation  above  quoted,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  al¬ 
lusion  to  his  proceeding  to  Pekin  operated  strongly  upon  the  im¬ 
perial  mind. 

The  last  official  communication  which  Lord  Elgin  received  from 
China,  when  on  his  way  to  England,  was  a  notification  that  this 
same  decree,  removing  Hwang  and  denouncing  the  secret  edict  as 
a  forgery,  had  been  published  as  a  spontaneous  act  on  the  part  of 
the  Chinese  government  in  the  Pekin  Gazette.  It  runs  as  follows : 

IMPERIAL  EDICT. 

( From  the  Pekin  Gazette ,  31si  January.') 

“We  have  this  day  received  a  memorial  from  Kweiliang  and 
his  colleagues  to  the  effect  that  they  have  received,  with  the  let¬ 
ters  from  the  British,  a  false  imperial  edict  of  the  kind  dispatched 
directly  from  the  imperial  court,  and  which,  they  were  informed, 
had  been  obtained  by  an  Englishman  in  Kwang-tung.” 

“  On  perusing  this,  Our  surprise  was  extreme.  From  all  time 
China  has  held  fast  by  principles  of  the  highest  justice  in  her  be¬ 
nevolent  measure  for  tranquillizing  the  various  nations :  she  has 
never  laid  plans  for  secretly  injuring  them.” 

“Subsequently  to  the  failure  of  Yeh-nfingshin,WE  appointed 
Hwang-tsung-han  to  be  Governor  General  of  the  Two  Kwang, 
and  gave  him  the  seal  of  imperial  commissioner  of  Our  territories. 
As  to  Vice-President  Lo-tun-yen  and  his  colleagues,  they,  stimu¬ 
lated  by  patriotic  ardor,  enrolled  braves  for  the  defense  of  their 
country — a  perfectly  rightful  occupation  for  local  gentry.” 

“Recently,  however,  the  amicable  negotiations  of  Kweiliang 
and  his  colleagues  at  Tientsin  having  been  finished,  Hwang-tsung- 
han  had  to  busy  himself  with  internal  military  affairs  only,  while 
Lo-tun-yen  and  his  colleagues  had,  in  obedience  to  Our  com¬ 
mands,  to  deal  solely  with  native  bandits.  It  was  not  in  contem¬ 
plation  that  they  should  engage  in  hostilities  with  the  British  and 
French.  Although  these  nations  have  not  yet  redelivered  the  cap- 


606  DECREE  PUBLISHED  IN  THE  “  PEKIN  GAZETTE.” 


ital  of  Kwang-tung,  yet  if  they  maintain  proper  order  among  their 
troops,  causing  no  annoyance  to  the  inhabitants,  they  may  live  to¬ 
gether  in  peace,  free  from  all  troubles.” 

“  A  court  dispatch  has,  however,  been  fabricated,  giving  cause 
to  difficulties  between  Lo-tun-yen  with  his  colleagues  on  the  one 
side,  and  these  two  nations  on  the  other,  and  producing  doubt  and 
suspicion  in  the  mind  of  the  British.  We  now  therefore  com¬ 
mand  Hwang-tsung-han  to  take  strict  measures  for  the  seizure  of 
the  lawless  fabricators,  and  to  punish  them  with  the  utmost  rigor 
of  the  law.  Thus  may  all  nations  know  that  China  transacts  her 
affairs  in  an  open,  rightful,  and  liberal  spirit,  and  that,  when  once 
a  settlement  is  arrived  at,  suspicions  and  doubts  may  be  given  up, 
and  so  no  room  be  left  for  the  instigation  of  false  mischief-makers. 

“  As  Shanghai,  where  the  arrangements  connected  with  the  gen¬ 
eral  trade  are  at  present  being  made,  lies  at  a  considerable  dis¬ 
tance  from  Kwang-tung,  We  hereby  appoint  the  Governor  Gen¬ 
eral  of  the  Two  Keang,  Ho-kwei-tsing,  to  be  imperial  commission¬ 
er  of  foreign  affairs,  and  We  hereby  command  Kwang-tsung-han 
to  send  a  special  officer  to  deliver  to  him  the,  seal  of  imperial  com¬ 
missioner  now  in  use.  Kespect  this.” 

When  it  is  remembered  that  the  Pekin  Gazette  is  published  pure¬ 
ly  for  the  information  of  the  Chinese  population,  and  is  not  sup¬ 
posed  to  be  read  or  seen  by  foreigners,  we  could  not  but  regard 
the  official  promulgation  of  such  conciliatory  sentiments  as  a  hope¬ 
ful  symptom  of  the  future. 

Meantime,  Lord  Elgin  was  of  opinion  that  his  presence  at  Can¬ 
ton  would  tend  to  facilitate  the  settlement  of  matters  in  that 
troubled  locality :  he  had  already  urged  upon  General  Strauben- 
zee  the  expediency  of  vigorously  following  up  his  successful  opera¬ 
tions  on  Shek-tsing.  u  I  think  it  very  important,”  says  his  ex¬ 
cellency,  “  that  advantage  should  be  taken  of  this  cool  season  to 
accustom  the  rural  inhabitants  of  the  vicinity  of  Canton  to  the 
presence  of  our  troops,  and  to  punish  severely  braves  or  others 
who  may  venture  to  attack  or  resist  them — every  security,  of 
course,  being  given  that  the  peaceful  inhabitants  shall  not  in  any 
way  be  molested.”  t 

Lord  Elgin  now  announced  to  the  commissioners  his  determina¬ 
tion  to  proceed  to  Canton,  stating  as  he  did  so  that  it  was  his  in¬ 
tention  to  return  to  Shanghai,  to  discuss  with  them  various  ques- 


DEPARTURE  FROM  SHANGHAI.— ORDER  SECURED.  607 


tions,  the  settlement  of  which  was  still  pending.  He  was  ulti¬ 
mately  prevented  from  carrying  this  arrangement  into  effect  by 
learning  on  his  arrival  at  Canton  that  Mr.  Bruce,  who  had  been 
appointed  to  relieve  him,  was  expected  immediately.  The  mer¬ 
cantile  community,  believing  that  the  special  mission  was  about 
to  bid  a  final  adieu  to  Shanghai,  presented  his  excellency  with  an 
address,  congratulating  him  upon  the  large  measure  of  success 
with  which  his  diplomatic  efforts,  both  in  China  and  Japan,  had 
been  crowned. 

On  the  25th  of  January  Lord  Elgin  gave  a  farewell  ball  at  the 
Consulate,  immediately  after  which  we  once  more  turned  into  our 
familiar  cots  on  board  the  Furious,  and  slept  till  an  advanced 
hour  of  the  following  day,  when  Shanghai  was  twenty  miles 
astern,  and  the  turbid  waters  of  the  Yang-tse-Kiang  were  for  the 
last  time  sweeping  us  rapidly  out  to  sea. 

Early  in  February,  1859,  the  Furious  took  up  her  berth  in  the 
Canton  Fiver,  at  the  same  anchorage  at  which  I  had  left  her  pre¬ 
cisely  a  year  before.  How  great  a  change  had  been  wrought  in 
Canton  during  the  interval !  Then  the  troops  were  camped  on 
the  walls,  or  roughly  barracked  in  yamuns;  the  streets  were 
crowded  with  people  leaving  the  city  under  the  influence  of  fear; 
many  of  the  shops  were  shut ;  and  numbers  of  houses  were  unin¬ 
habited  and  in  ruins. 

Now  a  well-organized  system  of  government  had  produced 
order  out  of  chaos.  A  body  of  efficient  police  patrolled  the 
streets,  which  were  cleaner  than  those  of  any  other  town  in  Chi¬ 
na.  The  gambling-booths  were  all  closed.  Vacant  spaces  had 
been  cleared  of  rubbish  and  turned  into  parade-grounds.  Officers 
and  men  occupied  comfortable  quarters,  and  the  streets  might  be 
traversed  in  any  direction  with  perfect  security.  Trading  was 
flourishing ;  the  merchants,  for  the  most  part,  occupying  tempo¬ 
rary  abodes  on  Honan  Island  (on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river) 
until  the  site  for  the  new  British  factory  should  be  definitively 
decided  upon. 

The  numerical  strength  of  the  police  force  which  kept  order  in 
Canton  during  a  year’s  occupation  only  amounted  to  one  hundred 
and  fifty  men.  Captain  Pirn,  who  commanded  this  body  of  men, 
informed  me  that,  out  of  the  number,  he  had  lost  four  men  killed 
and  twelve  wounded  in  the  execution  of  their  duty.  These  out¬ 
rages  had  been  committed  during  the  summer,  when  braves  were 


608 


MILITARY  PROMENADES  NEAR  CANTON. 


in  the  habit  of  secretly  entering  the  city,  and  assassinating  solitary 
Europeans.  The  townspeople,  however,  so  far  from  sympathizing 
in  the  proceedings  of  these  ruffians,  used  frequently  to  point  them 
out  to  our  men. 

The  success  of  the  Shek-tsing  expedition,  and  the  wholesome 
moral  effect  which  had  been  already  produced  upon  the  rural 
population  of  the  district  adjoining  Canton,  suggested  the  idea  of 
military  promenades  on  a  more  extensive  scale.  One  was  accord¬ 
ingly  undertaken  to  Fat-skan,  and  another  to  Taileck,  the  princi¬ 
pal  village  of  the  confederation  known  as  the  u  Ninety -six  Til¬ 
lages,”  both  passing  off  peaceably,  and  producing,  so  far  as  we 
were  enabled  to  judge,  the  most  salutary  effect  upon  the  popula¬ 
tion.  The  notorious  town  of  Fayune,  however,  situated  between 
thirty  and  forty  miles  to  the  north  of  Canton,  had  still  to  be  visit¬ 
ed,  and  thither  General  Straubenzee  proposed  to  march  with  a 
force  of  a  thousand  men.  I  was  permitted  to  accompany  the 
troops  upon  this  expedition,  which  proved,  in  fact,  a  most  inter¬ 
esting  and  agreeable  five  days’  excursion,  and  partook  rather  of 
the  character  of  a  picnic  than  a  military  reconnoissance.  As,  how¬ 
ever,  it  was  fully  described  at  the  time,  and  was  invested  with  no 
immediate  interest  beyond  that  which  must  necessarily  attach  to  a 
march  through  a  little-known  country,  I  shall  not  enter  upon  any 
description  of  it.  The  political  results  of  this,  as  of  the  other  mili¬ 
tary  promenades  of  the  same  nature  which  were  undertaken  about 
this  period,  were  in  the  highest  degree  satisfactory.  The  country 
people,  whose  feeling  toward  foreigners  are  naturally  amiable,  be¬ 
came  accustomed  to  our  presence,  and  less  than  ever  disposed  to 
subscribe  for  the  support  of  the  disreputable  rabble  that  had  col¬ 
lected  in  the  neighborhood  of  Canton  from  other  parts  of  the 
country,  and  called  themselves  “  Braves.” 

The  “Braves”  themselves  found  their  prestige  destroyed  by 
the  Shek-tsing  affair,  and  now,  for  the  first  time,  became  aware 
that  barbarians  could  undertake  military  movements  unsupported 
by  “devil  ships,”  and  that  no  retreat  in  the  vicinity  of  Canton 
was  secure  from  the  visits  of  a  foreign  force.  The  dissolution  of 
the  Committee  of  Fayune  by  imperial  edict,  and  the  encampment 
for  twenty-four  hours  of  a  thousand  men  under  the  walls  of  that 
town,  effectually  extinguished  the  warlike  spirit  of  the  militia,  and 
it  will  be  our  own  fault  if  we  ever  allow  it  to  break  forth  again. 

As,  by  the  mail  due  in  China  at  the  end  of  February,  we  ex- 


INHOSPITABLE  SHORES  OF  HAINAN. 


609 


pectecl  to  receive  definite  intelligence  of  the  movements  of  Mr. 
Bruce,  as  well  as  the  views  of  the  home  government  upon  a  ques¬ 
tion  of  policy  which  might  render  it  necessary  for  Lord  Elgin  to 
return  to  Shanghai,  he  determined  to  occupy  the  interval  by  a 
voyage  of  discovery  and  exploration  to  the  new  port  opened  by 
the  Treaty  of  Tientsin  in  the  island  of  Hainan. 

Unfortunately,  as  we  approached  that  little-known  and  unsur¬ 
veyed  coast,  it  came  on  to  blow  a  gale  of  wind.  On  our  lee  bow 
was  a  low,  sandy,  treacherous-looking  shore,  with  a  high  conical 
mountain  inland ;  on  our  quarter,  the  precipitous  Taya  Islands 
loomed  dangerously  through  the  haze ;  round  us  the  waves  foam¬ 
ed  and  chopped  in  an  unpleasant  manner,  suggestive  of  strong 
currents  and  hidden  reefs.  Still  the  cry  of  the  leadsman,  anxious¬ 
ly  waited  for  as  we  crept  cautiously  along,  was  “Ho  bottom:” 
suddenly  there  came  a  sharp  short  “  Seven  fathoms.”  Our  leads¬ 
men  were  too  well  trained  to  waste  the  time  in  musical  cadences 
on  these  occasions.  In  a  second  the  helm  was  hard  down,  and 
the  shoaling  of  the  water,  as  the  ship  turned  almost  in  her  own 
length,  proved  how  near  had  been  the  danger.  The  sea  was  run¬ 
ning  too  high  to  make  channel-hunting  among  the  coral  reefs, 
without  a  gun-boat,  either  an  agreeable  or  safe  amusement.  So 
we  turned  our  backs  in  disgust  upon  the  inhospitable  shores  of 
Hainan,  and  ran  for  shelter  and  comfort  into  a  pretty  little  port  on 
the  main  land,  where  a  snug  pirate  village  nestled  among  woods, 
in  a  nook  so  secluded  that  we  only  stumbled  on  it  by  accident, 
and  found  a  cutthroat  population  living  in  considerable  comfort 
upon  no  apparent  resources  beyond  what  a  certain  number  of 
well-armed  junks  could  provide  them  with.  After  touching  at 
the  island  of  St.  John’s,  and  fruitlessly  exploring  one  of  its  bays 
in  search  of  the  tomb  of  FranQois  Xavier,  we  once  more  anchored 
in  Hong  Kong  harbor,  as  we  devoutly  trusted,  “positively  for  the 
last  time.” 

The  arrival  of  the  mail  with  scarcely  any  letters  for  the  mission 
decided  the  question.  It  was  evident  that  we  were  supposed  in 
England  to  be  on  our  way  home,  for  both  private  and  official 
correspondence  had  all  but  stopped.  As  Mr.  Bruce  had  been 
charged  to  exchange  the  ratifications,  and  the  admiral  had  been 
instructed  to  have  a  ship  waiting  for  him  at  Singapore  at  the  end 
of  February,  there  was  nothing  to  be  gained  by  lingering  longer 
amid  the  scenes  of  our  protracted  diplomatic  labors. 

Qq 


610 


ADIEU  TO  CHINA.— ARRIVAL  AT  MALTA. 


On  the  4th  of  March  we  watched  with  inexpressible  delight 
the  rugged  coast  of  China  sink  behind  the  horizon,  and  a  week 
afterward  landed  at  Singapore.  It  was  not,  however,  until  we 
reached  Ceylon  that  we  met  Mr.  Bruce,  whose  departure  from  En¬ 
gland  had  been  delayed  until  a  somewhat  later  period  than  had 
been  anticipated. 

The  Furious,  more  faithful  to  us  than  we  had  been  to  her  in 
the  Yang-tse-Kiang,  conveyed  us  in  safety  to  Suez,  where  we  had 
the  satisfaction  of  being  the  first  passengers  who  had  ever  break¬ 
fasted  in  the  Red  Sea,  and  dined  the  same  afternoon  in  the  Medi¬ 
terranean.  A  very  faint  idea  of  our  anxiety  to  get  home  may  be 
gathered  from  this  circumstance. 

We  entered  the  harbor  of  Yaletta  upon  the  anniversary  of  the 
day  on  which,  two  years  before,  we  had  steamed  out  of  it  on  our 
way  to  the  East.  Since  then  India  and  China  had  successively 
occupied  the  public  mind ;  and  now  it  was  absorbed  in  watching 
the  destinies  of  Italy.  Unhappily,  events  have  again  occurred  in 
the  Celestial  Empire  as  unforeseen  as  they  have  been  unfortunate. 
Whether  our  labors  during  two  years  in  that  country  have  been 
wasted,  and  the  Treaty  of  Tientsin  becomes  at  last  a  reality  or  a 
fiction,  must  depend  upon  the  skill  of  our  diplomacy  no  less  than 
on  the  force  of  our  arms. 


I 


APPENDIX. 


No.  r. 

TREATY  OF  TIENTSIN. 

Inclosure  in  No.  181. 

Treaty  between  Her  Majesty  and  the  Emperor  of  China.  Signed  in  the  English  and 

Chinese  languages ,  at  Tientsin ,  June  26,  1858. 

Her  majesty  the  Queen  of  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  and 
his  majesty  the  Emperor  of  China,  being  desirous  to  put  an  end  to  the  existing  mis¬ 
understanding  between  the  two  countries,  and  to  place  their  relations  on  a  more  satis¬ 
factory  footing  in  future,  have  resolved  to  proceed  to  a  revision  and  improvement  of 
the  treaties  existing  between  them,  and  for  that  purpose  have  named  as  their  pleni¬ 
potentiaries,  that  is  to  say  : 

Her  majesty  the  Queen  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  the  Eight  Honorable  the 
Earl  of  Elgin  and  Kincardine,  a  Peer  of  the  United  Kingdom,  and  Knight  of  the 
Most  Ancient  and  Most  Noble  Order  of  the  Thistle ; 

And  his  majesty  the  Emperor  of  China,  the  High  Commissioner  Kweiliang,  a 
Senior  Chief  Secretary  of  State,  styled  of  the  East  Cabinet,  Captain  General  of  the 
Plain  White  Banner  of  the  Manchu  Banner  Force,  Superintendent  General  of  the 
administration  of  Criminal  Law ;  and  Hwashana,  one  of  his  imperial  majesty’s  Ex¬ 
positors  of  the  Classics,  Manchu  President  of  the  Office  for  the  regulation  of  the 
Civil  Establishment,  Captain  General  of  the  Bordered  Blue  Banner  of  the  Chinese 
Banner  Force,  and  Visitor  of  the  Office  of  Interpretation ; 

Who,  after  having  communicated  to  each  other  their  respective  full  powers,  and 
found  them  to  be  in  good  and  due  form,  have  agreed  upon  and  concluded  the  follow¬ 
ing  Articles : 


ARTICLE  i. 

The  Treaty  of  Peace  and  Amity  between  the  two  nations,  signed  at  Nankin  on 
the  twenty-ninth  day  of  August,  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty- 
two,  is  hereby  renewed  and  confirmed. 

The  Supplementary  Treaty  and  General  Kegulations  of  Trade  having  been  amend¬ 
ed  and  improved,  and  the  substance  of  their  provisions  having  been  incorporated  in 
this  treaty,  the  said  Supplementary  Treaty  and  General  Regulations  of  Trade  are 
hereby  abrogated. 


ARTICLE  II. 

For  the  better  preservation  of  harmony  in  future,  her  majesty  the  Queen  of  Great 
Britain  and  his  majesty  the  Emperor  of  China  mutually  agree  that,  in  accordance 
with  the  universal  practice  of  great  and  friendly  nations,  her  majesty  the  queen  may, 
if  she  see  fit,  appoint  embassadors,  ‘  ministers,  or  other  diplomatic  agents  to  the 


I 


612 


APPENDIX. 


court  of  Pekin ;  and  his  majesty  the  Emperor  of  China  may,  in  like  manner,  if  he 
see  fit,  appoint  embassadors,  ministers,  or  other  diplomatic  agents  to  the  court  of 
St.  James’. 

ARTICLE  III. 

His  majesty  the  Emperor  of  China  hereby  agrees  that  the  embassador,  minister,  or 
other  diplomatic  agent,  so  appointed  by  her  majesty  the  Queen  of  Great  Britain,  may 
reside  with  his  family  and  establishment,  permanently  at  the  capital,  or  may  visit  it 
occasionally,  at  the  option  of  the  British  government.  He  shall  not  be  called  upon 
to  perform  any  ceremony  derogatory  to  him  as  representing  the  sovereign  of  an  inde¬ 
pendent  nation  on  a  footing  of  equality  with  that  of  China.  On  the  other  hand,  he 
shall  use  the  same  forms  of  ceremony  and  respect  to  his  majesty  the  emperor  as  are 
employed  by  the  embassadors,  ministers,  or  diplomatic  agents  of  her  majesty  toward 
the  sovereigns  of  independent  and  equal  European  nations. 

It  is  farther  agreed  that  her  majesty’s  government  may  acquire  at  Pekin  a  site  for 
building,  or  may  hire  houses  for  the  accommodation  of  her  majesty’s  mission,  and 
that  the  Chinese  government  will  assist  it  in  so  doing. 

Her  majesty’s  representative  shall  be  at  liberty  to  choose  his  own  servants  and  at¬ 
tendants,  who  shall  not  be  subjected  to  any  kind  of  molestation  whatever. 

Any  person  guilty  of  disrespect  or  violence  to  her  majesty’s  representative,  or  to  any 
member  of  his  family  or  establishment,  in  deed  or  word,  shall  be  severely  punished. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

It  is  farther  agreed  that  no  obstacle  or  difficulty  shall  be  made  to  the  free  move¬ 
ments  of  her  majesty’s  representative,  and  that  he,  and  the  persons  of  his  suite,  may 
come  and  go,  and  travel  at  their  pleasure.  He  shall,  moreover,  have  full  liberty  to 
send  and  receive  his  correspondence  to  and  from  any  point  on  the  sea-coast  that  he 
may  select ;  and  his  letters  and  effects  shall  be  held  sacred  and  inviolable.  He  may 
employ,  for  their  transmission,  special  couriers,  who  shall  meet  with  the  same  protec¬ 
tion  and  facilities  for  traveling  as  the  persons  employed  in  carrying  dispatches  for  the 
imperial  government ;  and,  generally,  he  shall  enjoy  the  same  privileges  as  are  ac¬ 
corded  to  officers  of  the  same  rank  by  the  usage  and  consent  of  Western  nations. 

All  expenses  attending  the  diplomatic  mission  of  Great  Britain  shall  be  borne  by 
the  British  government. 

\ 

ARTICLE  V. 

His  majesty  the  Emperor  of  China  agrees  to  nominate  one  of  the  secretaries  of 
state,  or  a  president  of  one  of  the  boards,  as  the  high  officer  with  whom  the  embas¬ 
sador,  minister,  or  other  diplomatic  agent  of  her  majesty  the  queen  shall  transact 
business,  either  personally  or  in  writing,  on  a  footing  of  perfect  equality. 

ARTICLE  VI. 

Her  majesty  the  Queen  of  Great  Britain  agrees  that  the  privileges  hereby  secured 
shall  be  enjoyed  in  her  dominions  by  the  embassadors,  ministers,  or  diplomatic  agents 
of  the  Emperor  of  China  accredited  to  the  court  of  her  majesty. 

ARTICLE  VII. 

Her  majesty  the  queen  may  appoint  one  or  more  consuls  in  the  dominions  of  the 
Emperor  of  China ;  and  such  consul  or  consuls  shall  be  at  liberty  to  reside  in  any  of 
the  open  ports  or  cities  of  China,  as  her  majesty  the  queen  may  consider  most  ex- 


APPENDIX. 


613 


pedient  for  the  interests  of  British  commerce.  They  shall  he  treated  with  due  re¬ 
spect  by  the  Chinese  authorities,  and  enjoy  the  same  privileges  and  immunities  as 
the  consular  officers  of  the  most  favored  nation. 

Consuls  and  vice-consuls  in  charge  shall  rank  with  intendants  of  circuits ;  vice- 
consuls,  acting  vice-consuls,  and  interpreters,  with  prefects.  They  shall  have  ac¬ 
cess  to  the  official  residences  of  these  officers,  and  communicate  with  them,  either 
personally  or  in  writing,  on  a  footing  of  equality,  as  the  interests  of  the  public  service 
may  require. 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

The  Christian  religion,  as  professed  by  Protestants  or  Roman  Catholics,  inculcates 
the  practice  of  virtue,  and  teaches  man  to  do  as  he  would  he  done  by.  Persons 
teaching  it  or  professing  it,  therefore,  shall  alike  be  entitled  to  the  protection  of  the 
Chinese  authorities ;  nor  shall  any  such,  peaceably  pursuing  their  calling,  and  not 
offending  against  the  laws,  be  persecuted  or  interfered  with. 

ARTICLE  IX. 

British  subjects  are  hereby  authorized  to  travel,  for  their  pleasure  or  for  purposes 
of  trade,  to  all  parts  of  the  interior,  under  passports  which  will  be  issued  by  their 
consuls,  and  countersigned  by  the  local  authorities.  These  passports,  if  demanded, 
must  be  produced  for  examination  in  the  localities  passed  through.  If  the  passport 
be  not  irregular,  the  bearer  will  be  allowed  to  proceed,  and  no  opposition  shall  be  of¬ 
fered  to  his  hiring  persons,  or  hiring  vessels  for  the  carriage  of  his  baggage  or  mer¬ 
chandise.  If  he  be  without  a  passport,  or  if  he  commit  any  offense  against  the  law,  he 
shall  be  handed  over  to  the  nearest  consul  for  punishment,  but  he  must  not  be  sub¬ 
jected  to  any  ill  usage  in  excess  of  necessary  restraint.  No  passport  need  be  applied 
for  by  persons  going  on  excursions  from  the  ports  open  to  trade  to  a  distance  not  ex¬ 
ceeding  100  11 ,  and  for  a  period  not  exceeding  five  days. 

The  provisions  of  this  article  do  not  apply  to  crews  of  ships,  for  the  due  restraint 
of  whom  regulations  will  be  drawn  up  by  the  consul  and  the  local  authorities. 

To  Nankin,  and  other  cities  disturbed  by  persons  in  arms  against  the  government, 
no  pass  shall  be  given  until  they  shall  have  been  recaptured. 

article  x. 

British  merchant-ships  shall  have  authority  to  trade  upon  the  Great  River  (Yang- 
tsz).  The  Upper  and  Lower  Valley  of  the  river  being,  however,  disturbed  by  out¬ 
laws,  no  port  shall  be  for  the  present  opened  to  trade,  with  the  exception  of  Chin- 
kiang,  which  shall  be  opened  in  a  year  from  the  date  of  the  signing  of  this  treaty. 

So  soon  as  peace  shall  have  been  restored,  British  vessels  shall  also  be  admitted  to 
trade  at  such  ports  as  far  as  Hankow,  not  exceeding  three  in  number,  as  the  British 
minister,  after  consultation  with  the  Chinese  Secretary  of  State,  may  determine  shall 
be  ports  of  entry  and  discharge. 

ARTICLE  XI. 

In  addition  to  the  cities  and  towns  of  Canton,  Amoy,  Foo-cliow,  Ningpo,  and 
Shanghae,  opened  by  the  Treaty  of  Nankin,  it  is  agreed  that  Biitish  subjects  may 
frequent  the  cities  and  ports  of  New-Chwang,  Tang-Chow,  Tai-Wau  (Formosa), 
Chau-Chow  (Swatoa),  and  Kiung-Chow  (Hainan). 

They  are  permitted  to  carry  on  trade  with  whomsoever  they  please,  and  to  proceed 
to  and  fro  at  pleasure  with  their  vessels  and  merchandise. 


614 


APPENDIX. 


They  shall  enjoy  the  same  privileges,  advantages,  and  immunities  at  the  said 
towns  and  ports  as  they  enjoy  at  the  ports  already  opened  to  trade,  including  the 
right  of  residence,  of  buying  or  renting  houses,  of  leasing  land  therein,  and  of  build¬ 
ing  churches,  hospitals,  and  cemeteries. 

ARTICLE  XII. 

British  subjects,  whether  at  the  ports  or  at  other  places,  desiring  to  build  or  open 
houses,  warehouses,  churches,  hospitals,  or  burial-grounds,  shall  make  their  agree¬ 
ment  for  the  land  or  buildings  they  require  at  the  rates  prevailing  among  the  people, 
equitably,  and  without  exaction  on  either  side. 

ARTICLE  XIII. 

The  Chinese  government  will  place  no  restrictions  whatever  upon  the  employment, 
by  British  subjects,  of  Chinese  subjects  in  any  lawful  capacity. 

ARTICLE  XIV. 

British  subjects  may  hire  whatever  boats  they  please  for  the  transport  of  goods  or 
passengers,  and  the  sum  to  be  paid  for  such  boats  shall  be  settled  between  the  parties 
themselves,  without  the  interference  of  the  Chinese  government.  The  number  of 
these  boats  shall  not  be  limited,  nor  shall  a  monopoly  in  respect  either  of  the  boats, 
or  of  the  porters  or  coolies  engaged  in  carrying  the  goods,  be  granted  to  any  parties. 
If  any  smuggling  takes  place  in  them,  the  offenders  will,  of  course,  be  punished  ac¬ 
cording  to  law. 

% 

ARTICLE  XV. 

All  questions  in  regard  to  rights,  whether  of  property  or  person,  arising  between 
British  subjects,  shall  be  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  British  authorities. 

ARTICLE  XVI. 

Chinese  subjects  who  may  be  guilty  of  any  criminal  act  toward  British  subjects 
shall  be  arrested  and  punished  by  the  Chinese  authorities,  according  to  the  laws  of 
China. 

British  subjects  who  may  commit  any  crime  in  China  shall  be  tried  and  punished 
by  the  consul,  or  other  public  functionary  authorized  thereto,  according  to  the  laws 
of  Great  Britain. 

J ustice  shall  be  equitably  and  impartially  administered  on  both  sides. 

ARTICLE  XVII. 

A  British  subject  having  reason  to  complain  of  a  Chinese  must  proceed  to  the  con¬ 
sulate  and  state  his  grievance.  The  consul  will  inquire  into  the  merits  of  the  case, 
and  do  his  utmost  to  arrange  it  amicably.  In  like  manner,  if  a  Chinese  have  reason 
to  complain  of  a  British  subject,  the  consul  shall  no  less  listen  to  his  complaint,  and 
endeavor  to  settle  it  in  a  friendly  manner.  If  disputes  take  place  of  such  a  nature 
that  the  consul  can  not  arrange  them  amicably,  then  he  shall  request  the  assistance 
of  the  Chinese  authorities,  that  they  may  together  examine  into  the  merits  of  the 
case,  and  decide  it  equitably. 

ARTICLE  XVIII. 

The  Chinese  authorities  shall  at  all  times  afford  the  fullest  protection  to  the  per¬ 
sons  and  property  of  British  subjects  whenever  these  shall  have  been  subjected  to  in- 


APPENDIX. 


6 15 


suit  or  violence.  In  all  cases  of  incendiarism  or  robbery,  the  local  authorities  shall 
at  once  take  the  necessary  steps  for  the  recovery  of  the  stolen  property,  the  supres- 
sion  of  disorder,  and  the  arrest  of  the  guilty  parties,  whom  they  will  punish  accord¬ 
ing  to  law. 


ARTICLE  XIX. 

If  any  British  merchant-vessel,  while  within  Chinese  waters,  be  plundered  by  rob¬ 
bers  or  pirates,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Chinese  authorities  to  use  every  endeavor 
to  capture  and  punish  the  said  robbers  or  pirates,  and  to  recover  the  stolen  property, 
that  it  may  be  handed  over  to  the  consul  for  restoration  to  the  owner. 

ARTICLE  XX. 

If  any  British  vessel  be  at  any  time  wrecked  or  stranded  on  the  coast  of  China,  or 
be  compelled  to  take  refuge  in  any  port  within  the  dominions  of  the  Emperor  of 
China,  the  Chinese  authorities,  on  being  apprised  of  the  fact,  shall  immediately  adopt 
measures  for  its  relief  and  security ;  the  persons  on  board  shall  receive  friendly  treat¬ 
ment,  and  shall  be  furnished,  if  necessary,  with  the  means  of  conveyance  to  the  near¬ 
est  consular  station. 


ARTICLE  XXI. 

If  criminals,  subjects  of 'China,  shall  take  refuge  in  Hong  Kong,  or  on  board  the 
British  ships  there,  they  shall,  upon  due  requisition  by  the  Chinese  authorities,  be 
searched  for,  and,  on  proof  of  their  guilt,  be  delivered  up. 

In  like  manner,  if  Chinese  offenders  take  refuge  in  the  houses  or  on  board  the  ves¬ 
sels  of  British  subjects  at  the  open  ports,  they  shall  not  be  harbored  or  concealed,  but 
shall  be  delivered  up,  on  due  requisition  by  the  Chinese  authorities,  addressed  to  the 
British  consul. 


% 


ARTICLE  XXII. 


Should  any  Chinese  subject  fail  to  discharge  debts  incurred  to  a  British  subject, 
or  should  he  fraudulently  abscond,  the  Chinese  authorities  will  do  their  utmost  to 
effect  his  arrest,  and  enforce  recovery  of  the  debts.  The  British  authorities  will  like¬ 
wise  do  their  utmost  to  bring  to  justice  any  British  subject  fraudulently  absconding  or 
failing  to  discharge  debts  incurred  by  him  to  a  Chinese  subject. 


ARTICLE  XXIII. 

Should  natives  of  China  who  may  repair  to  Hong  Kong  to  trade  incur  debts  there, 
the  recovery  of  such  debts  must  be  arranged  for  by  the  English  courts  of  justice  on 
the  spot ;  but  should  the  Chinese  debtor  abscond,  and  be  known  to  haVe  property, 
real  or  personal,  within  the  Chinese  territory,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Chinese  au¬ 
thorities,  on  application  by,  and  in  concert  with,  the  British  consul,  to  do  their  utmost 
to  see  justice  done  between  the  parties. 

ARTICLE  XXIV. 

It  is  agreed  that  British  subjects  shall  pay,  on  all  merchandise  imported  or  ex¬ 
ported  by  them,  the  duties  prescribed  by  the  tariff;  but  in  no  case  shall  they  be  called 
upon  to  pay  other  or  higher  duties  than  are  required  of  the  subjects  of  any  other 
foreign  nation. 


616 


APPENDIX. 


ARTICLE  XXV. 

Import  duties  shall  be  considered  payable  on  the  landing  of  the  goods,  and  duties 
of  export  on  the  shipment  of  the  same. 

ARTICLE  XXVI. 

Whereas  the  tariff  fixed  by  Article  X.  of  the  Treaty  of  Nankin,  and  which  was 
estimated  so  as  to  impose  on  imports  and  exports  a  duty  at  about  the  rate  of  five 
per  cent,  ad  valorem ,  has  been  found,  by  reason  of  the  fall  in  value  of  various  articles 
of  merchandise  therein  enumerated,  to  impose  a  duty  upon  these  considerably  in  excess 
of  the  rate  originally  assumed  as  above  to  be  a  fair  rate,  it  is  agreed  that  the  said 
tariff  shall  be  revised,  and  that,  as  soon  as  the  treaty  shall  have  been  signed,  appli¬ 
cation  shall  be  made  to  the  Emperor  of  China  to  depute  a  high  officer  of  the  Board 
of  Revenue  to  meet  at  Shanghai  officers  to  be  deputed  on  behalf  of  the  British  gov¬ 
ernment,  to  consider  its  revision  together,  so  that  the  tariff,  as  Revised,  may  come 
into  operation  immediately  after  the  ratification  of  this  treaty. 

ARTICLE  XXVII. 

It  is  agreed  that  either  of  the  high  contracting  parties  to  this  treaty  may  demand 
a  farther  revision  of  the  tariff,  and  of  the  commercial  articles  of  this  treaty,  at  the 
end  of  ten  years ;  but  if  no  demand  be  made  on  either  side  within  six  months  after 
the  end  of  the  first  ten  years,  then  the  tariff  shall  remain  in  force  for  ten  years  more, 
reckoned  from  the  end  of  the  preceding  ten  years ;  and  so  it  shall  be  at  the  end  of 
each  successive  ten  years. 

ARTICLE  XXVIII. 

I  _ 

Whereas  it  was  agreed  in  Article  X.  of  the  Treaty  of  Nankin  that  British  imports, 
having  paid  the  tariff  duties,  should  be  conveyed  into  the  interior  free  of  all  farther 
charges,  except  a  transit  duty,  the  amount  whereof  was  not  to  exceed  a  certain  per¬ 
centage  on  tariff  value ;  and  whereas,  no  accurate  information  having  been  furnished 
of  the  amount  of  such  duty,  British  merchants'  have  constantly  complained  that 
charges  are  suddenly  and  arbitrarily  imposed  by  the  provincial  authorities  as  transit 
duties  upon  produce  on  its  way  to  the  foreign  market,  and  on  imports  on  their  way 
into  the  interior,  to  the  detriment  of  trade  ;  it  is  agreed  that  within  four  months  from 
the  signing  of  this  treaty,  at  all  ports  now  open  to  British  trade,  and  within  a  similar 
period  at  all  ports  that  may  hereafter  be  opened,  the  authority  appointed  to  super¬ 
intend  the  collection  of  duties  shall  be  obliged,  upon  application  of  the  consul,  to  de¬ 
clare  the  amount  of  duties  leviable  on  produce  between  the  place  of  production  and 
the  port  of  shipment,  and  upon  imports  between  the  consular  port  in  question  and 
the  inland  markets  named  by  the  consul;  and  that  a  notification  thereof  shall  be 
published  in  English  and  Chinese  for  general  information. 

But  it  shall  be  at  the  option  of  any  British  subject,  desiring  to  convey  produce  pur¬ 
chased  inland  to  a  port,  or  to  convey  imports  from  a  port  to  an  inland  market,  to 
clear  his  goods  of  all  transit  duties,  by  payment  of  a  single  charge.  The  amount 
of  this  charge  shall  be  leviable  on  exports  at  the  first  barrier  they  may  have  to  pass, 
or,  on  imports,  at  the  port  at  which  they  are  landed ;  and  on  payment  thereof,  a 
certificate  shall  be  issued,  which  shall  exempt  the  goods  from  all  farther  inland 
charges  whatsoever. 

It  is  farther  agreed  that  the  amount  of  this  charge  shall  be  calculated  as  nearly 
as  possible,  at  the  rate  of  two  and  a  half  per  cent,  ad  valorem ,  and  that  it  shall  be 


APPENDIX.  017 

fixed  for  each  article  at  the  conference  to  be  held  at  Shanghai  for  the  revision  of 
the  tariff. 

It  is  distinctly  understood  that  the  payment  of  transit  dues,  by  commutation  or 
otherwise,  shall  in  no  way  affect  the  tariff  duties  on  imports  or  exports,  which  will 
continue  to  be  levied  separately  and  in  full. 

ARTICLE  XXIX. 

British  merchant-vessels  of  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  tuns  burden  shall  be 
charged  tonnage  dues  at  the  rate  of  four  mace  per  ton ;  if  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
tons  and  under,  they  shall  be  charged  at  the  rate  of  one  mace  per  ton. 

Any  vessel  clearing  from  any  of  the  open  ports  of  China  for  any  other  of  the  open 
ports  or  for  Hong  Kong,  shall  be  entitled,  on  application  of  the  master,  to  a  special 
certificate  from  the  Customs,  on  exhibition  of  which  she  shall  be  exempted  from  all 
farther  payment  of  tonnage  dues  in  any  open  port  of  China  for  a  period  of  four 
months,  to  be  reckoned  from  the  date  of  her  port  clearance. 

ARTICLE  XXX. 

The  master  of  any  British  merchant-vessel  may,  within  forty-eight  hours  after  the 
arrival  of  his  vessel,  but  not  later,  decide  to  depart  without  breaking  bulk,  in  which 
case  he  will  not  be  subject  to  pay  tonnage  dues.  But  tonnage  dues  shall  be  held 
due  after  the  expiration  of  the  said  forty-eight  hours.  No  other  fees  or  charges  upon 
entry  or  departure  shall  be  levied. 

ARTICLE  XXXI. 

No  tonnage  dues  shall  be  payable  on  boats  employed  by  British  subjects  in  the 
conveyance  of  passengers,  baggage,  letters,  articles  of  provision,  or  other  articles  not 
subject  to  duty,  between  any  of  the  open  ports.  All  cargo-boats,  however,  conveying 
merchandise  subject  to  duty  shall  pay  tonnage  dues  onco  in  six  months,  at  the  rate 
of  four  mace  per  register  ton. 

J  *•'.  « 

pf  IkXl  i  i  CLE  XXXII. 

Si  l 

The  consuls  and  superintendents  of  customs  shall  consult  together  regarding  the 
erection  of  beacons  or  light-houses,  and  the  distribution  of  buoys  and  light-ships,  as 
occasion  may  demand. 


ARTICLE  XXXIII. 

Duties  shall  be  paid  to  the  bankers  authorized  by  the  Chinese  government  to  re¬ 
ceive  the  same  in  its  behalf,  either  in  sycee  or  in  foreign  money,  according  to  the  as¬ 
say  made  at  Canton,  on  the  thirteenth  of  July,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty- 
three. 

ARTICLE  XXXIV. 

Sets  of  standard  weights  and  measures,  prepared  according  to  the  standard  issued 
to  the  Canton  Custom-house  by  the  Board  of  Revenue,  shall  be  delivered  by  the 
Superintendent  of  Customs  to  the  consul  at  each  port,  to  secure  uniformity  and  pre¬ 
vent  confusion. 


ARTICLE  XXXV. 

Any  British  merchant- vessel  arriving  at  one  of  the  open  ports  shall  be  at  liberty 
to  engage  the  services  of  a  pilot  to  take  her  into  port.  In  like  manner,  after  she 


618 


APPENDIX. 


has  discharged  all  legal  dues  and  duties,  and  is  ready  to  take  her  departure,  she 
shall  he  allowed  to  select  a  pilot  to  conduct  her  out  of  port. 

ARTICLE  XXXVI. 

Whenever  a  British  merchant-vessel  shall  arrive  off  one  of  the  open  ports,  the 
Superintendent  of  Customs  shall  depute  one  or  more  Customs  officers  to  guard  the 
ship.  They  shall  either  live  in  a  boat  of  their  own,  or  stay  on  board  the  ship,  as 
may  best  suit  their  convenience.  Their  food  and  expenses  shall  be  supplied  them 
from  the  Custom-house,  and  they  shall  not  be  entitled  to  any  fees  whatever  from 
the  master  or  consignee.  Should  they  violate  this  regulation,  they  shall  be  punished 
proportionately  to  the  amount  exacted. 

ARTICLE  XXXVII. 

Within  twenty-four  hours  after  arrival,  the  ship’s  papers,  bills  of  lading,  etc.,  shall 
be  lodged  in  the  hands  of  the  consul,  who  will,  within  a  farther  period  of  twenty- 
four  hours,  report  to  the  Superintendent  of  Customs  the  name  of  the  ship,  her  regis¬ 
ter  tonnage,  and  the  nature  of  her  cargo.  If,  owing  to  neglect  on  the  part  of  the 
master,  the  above  rule  is  not  complied  with  within  forty-eight  hours  after  the  ship’s 
arrival,  he  shall  be  liable  to  a  fine  of  fifty  taels  for  every  day’s  delay :  the  total 
amount  of  penalty,  however,  shall  not  exceed  two  hundred  taels. 

The  master  will  be  responsible  for  the  correctness  of  the  manifest,  which  shall  con¬ 
tain  a  full  and  true  account  of  the  particulars  of  the  cargo  on  board.  For  present¬ 
ing  a  false  manifest,  he  will  subject  himself  to  a  fine  of  five  hundred  taels ;  but  he 
will  be  allowed  to  correct,  within  twenty-four  hours  after  delivery  of  it  to  the  Cus¬ 
toms  officers,  any  mistake  he  may  discover  in  his  manifest,  without  incurring  this 
penalty. 

ARTICLE  XXXVIII. 

After  receiving  from  the  consul  the  report  in  due  form,  the  Superintendent  of  Cus¬ 
toms  shall  grant  the  vessel  a  permit  to  open  hatches.  If  the  master  shall  open 
hatches  and  begin  to  discharge  any  goods  without  such  permission,  he  shall  be  fined 
five  hundred  taels,  and  the  goods  discharged  shall  be  confiscated  wholly. 

ARTICLE  XXXIX. 

Any  British  merchant  who  has  cargo  to  land  or  ship,  must  apply  to  the  Superin¬ 
tendent  of  Customs  for  a  special  permit.  Cargo  landed  or  shipped  without  such 
permit  will  be  liable  to  confiscation. 

ARTICLE  XL. 

No  transhipment  from  one  vessel  to  another  can  be  made  without  special  permis¬ 
sion,  under  pain  of  confiscation  of  the  goods  so  transhipped. 

’  ARTICLE  XLI. 

When  all  dues  and  duties  shall  have  been  paid,  the  Superintendent  of  Customs 
shall  give  a  port  clearance,  and  the  consul  shall  then  return  the  ship’s  papers,  so  that 
she  may  depart  on  her  voyage. 


ARTICLE  XLII. 

With  respect  to  articles  subject,  according  to  the  tariff,  to  an  ad  valorem  duty,  if 
the  British  merchant  can  not  agree  with  the  Chinese  officer  in  affixing  a  value,  then 


APPENDIX. 


619 


each  party  shall  call  two  or  three  merchants  to  look  at  the  goods,  and  the  highest 
price  at  which  any  of  these  merchants  would  he  willing  to  purchase  them  shall  be 
assumed  as  the  value  of  the  goods. 


ARTICLE  XLIII. 

Duties  shall  be  charged  upon  the  net  weight  of  each  article,  making  a  deduction 
for  the  tare  weight  of  congee,  etc.  To  fix  the  tare  on  any  article,  such  as  tea,  if  the 
British  merchant  can  not  agree  with  the  Custom-house  officer,  then  each  party  shall 
choose  so  many  chests  out  of  every  hundred,  which  being  first  weighed  in  gross,  shall 
afterward  be  tared,  and  the  average  tare  upon  these  chests  shall  be  assumed  as  the 
tare  upon  the  whole,  and  upon  this  principle  shall  the  tare  be  fixed  upon  all  other 
goods  and  packages.  If  there  should  be  any  other  points  in  dispute  which  can  not 
be  settled,  the  British  merchant  may  appeal  to  his  consul,  who  will  communicate  the 
particulars  of  the  case  to  the  Superintendent  of  Customs,  that  it  may  be  equitably 
arranged.  But  the  appeal  must  be  made  within  twenty-four  hours,  or  it  will  not  be 
attended  to.  While  such  points  are  still  unsettled,  the  Superintendent  of  Customs 
shall  postpone  the  insertion  of  the  same  in  his  books. 

ARTICLE  XLIV. 

Upon  all  damaged  goods  a  fair  reduction  of  duty  shall  be  allowed,  proportionate  to 
their  deterioration.  If  any  disputes  arise,  they  shall  be  settled  in  the  manner  point¬ 
ed  out  in  the  clause  of  this  treaty  having  reference  to  articles  which  pay  duty  ad 
valorem. 


ARTICLE  XLV. 

British  merchants  who  may  have  imported  merchandise  into  any  of  the  open  ports 
and  paid  the  duty  thereon,  if  they  desire  to  re-export  the  same,  shall  be  entitled  to 
make  application  to  the  Superintendent  of  Customs,  who,  in  order  to  prevent  fraud 
on  the  revenue,  shall  cause  examination  to  be  made  by  suitable  officers,  to  see  that 
the  duties  paid  on  such  goods,  as  entered  in  the  Custom-house  books,  correspond 
with  the  representation  made,  and  that  the  goods  remain  with  their  original  marks 
unchanged.  He  shall  then  make  a  memorandum  on  the  port-clearance  of  the  goods 
and  of  the  amount  of  duties  paid,  and  deliver  the  same  to  the  merchant ;  and  shall 
also  certify  the  facts  to  the  officers  of  Customs  of  the  other  ports.  All  which  being 
done,  on  the  arrival  in  port  of  the  vessel  in  which  the  goods  are  laden,  every  thing 
being  found  on  examination  there  to  correspond,  she  shall  be  permitted  to  break 
bulk,  and  land  the  said  goods,  without  being  subject  to  the  payment  of  any  addi¬ 
tional  duty  thereon.  But  if,  on  such  examination,  the  Superintendent  of  Customs 
shall  detect  any  fraud  on  the  revenue  in  the  case,  then  the  goods  shall  be  subject  to 
confiscation  by  the  Chinese  government. 

British  merchants  desiring  to  re-export  duty-paid  imports  to  a  foreign  country 
shall  be  entitled,  on  complying  with  the  same  conditions  as  in  the  case  of  re-exporta¬ 
tion  to  another  port  in  China,  to  a  drawback  certificate,  which  shall  be  a  valid  tend¬ 
er  to  the  Customs  in  payment  of  import  or  export  duties. 

Foreign  grain  brought  into  any  port  of  China  in  a  British  ship,  if  no  part  thereof 
has  been  landed,  may  be  re-exported  without  liinderance. 

ARTICLE  XL VI. 

The  Chinese  authorities  at  such  port  shall  adopt  the  means  they  may  judge  most 
proper  to  prevent  the  revenue  suffering  from  fraud  or  smuggling. 


620 


APPENDIX. 


ARTICLE  XL VII. 

British  merchant-vessels  are  not  entitled  to  resort  to  other  than  the  ports  of  trade 
declared  open  by  this  treaty.  They  are  not  unlawfully  to  enter  other  ports  in  China, 
or  to  carry  on  clandestine  trade  along  the  coasts  thereof.  Any  vessel  violating  this 
provision  shall,  with  her  cargo,  be  subject  to  confiscation  by  the  Chinese  government. 

ARTICLE  XL VIII. 

If  any  British  merchant-vessel  be  concerned  in  smuggling,  the  goods,  whatever 
their  value  or  nature,  shall  be  subject  to  confiscation  by  the  Chinese  authorities,  and 
the  ship  may  be  prohibited  from  trading  farther  and  sent  away,  as  soon  as  her  ac¬ 
counts  shall  have  been  adjusted  and  paid. 

ARTICLE  XLIX. 

All  penalties  enforced,  or  confiscations  made  under  this  treaty,  shall  belong  and 
be  appropriated  to  the  public  service  of  the  government  of  China. 

ARTICLE  L. 

All  official  communications  addressed  by  the  diplomatic  and  consular  agents  of  her 
majesty  the  queen  to  the  Chinese  authorities  shall  henceforth  be  written  in  English. 
They  will,  for  the  present,  be  accompanied  by  a  Chinese  version ;  but  it  is  understood 
that,  in  the  event  of  there  being  any  difference  of  meaning  between  the  English  and 
Chinese  text,  the  English  government  will  hold  the  sense  as  expressed  in  the  En¬ 
glish  text  to  be  the  correct  sense.  This  provision  is  to  apply  to  the  treaty  now  nego¬ 
tiated,  the  Chinese  text  of  which  has  been  carefully  corrected  by  the  English  original. 

ARTICLE  LI. 

It  is  agreed  that  henceforward  the  character  “I”  (barbarian)  shall  not  be  ap¬ 
plied  to  the  government  or  subjects  of  her  Britannic  majesty  in  any  Chinese  official 
document  issued  by  the  Chinese  authorities,  either  in  the  capital  or  in  the  provinces. 

ARTICLE  LII. 

British  ships  of  war  coming  for  no  hostile  purpose,  or  being  engaged  in  the  pursuit 
of  pirates,  shall  be  at  liberty  to  visit  all  ports  within  the  dominions  of  the  Emperor  of 
China,  and  shall  receive  every  facility  for  the  purchase  of  provisions,  procuring  water, 
and,  if  occasion  require,  for  the  making  of  repairs.  The  commanders  of  such  ships 
shall  hold  intercourse  with  the  Chinese  authorities  on  terms  of  equality  and  courtesy. 

ARTICLE  LIII. 

In  consideration  of  the  injury  sustained  by  native  and  foreign  commerce  from  the 
prevalence  of  piracy  in  the  seas  of  China,  the  high  contracting  parties  agree  to  con¬ 
cert  measures  for  its  suppression. 


ARTICLE  LIV. 

The  British  government  and  its  subjects  are  hereby  confirmed  in  all  privileges,  im¬ 
munities,  and  advantages  conferred  on  them  by  previous  treaties ;  and  it  is  hereby 
expressly  stipulated  that  the  British  government  and  its  subjects  will  be  allowed  free 
and  equal  participation  in  all  privileges,  immunities,  and  advantages  that  may  have 
been,  or  may  be  hereafter,  granted  by  his  majesty  the  Emperor  of  China  to  the  gov¬ 
ernment  or  subjects  of  any  other  nation. 


APPENDIX. 


621 


ARTICLE  LV. 

In  evidence  of  her  desire  for  the  continuance  of  a  friendly  understanding,  her  maj¬ 
esty  the  Queen  of  Great  Britain  consents  to  include  in  a  separate  article,  which  shall 
be  in  every  respect  of  equal  validity  with  the  articles  of  this  treaty,  the  conditions 
affecting  indemnity  for  expenses  incurred  and  losses  sustained  in  the  matter  of  the 
Canton  question. 


ARTICLE  LVI. 

The  ratifications  of  this  treaty,  under  the  hand  of  her  majesty  the  Queen  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland,  and  his  majesty  the  Emperor  of  China  respectively,  shall  be 
exchanged  at  Pekin  within  a  year  from  this  day  of  signature. 

In  token  whereof,  the  respective  plenipotentiaries  have  signed  and  sealed  this  treaty. 

Done  at  Tientsin,  this  twenty-sixth  day  of  June,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thou¬ 
sand  eight  hundred  and  fifty-eight ;  corresponding  with  the  Chinese  date,  the  six¬ 
teenth  day,  fifth  moon,  of  the  eighth  year  of  Ilien  Fung. 

(l.  s.)  Elgin  and  Kincardine. 


Signature 

Signature 

of  First  Chinese 

of  Second  Chinese 

Plenipotentiary. 

Plenipotentiary. 

Seal 

of  the  Chinese 
Plenipotentiaries. 


_ 

_  f 

Separate  Article  annexed  to  the  Treaty  concluded  between  Great  Britain  and  China  on 

the  twenty-sixth  day  of  June ,  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty-eight. 

It  is  hereby  agreed  that  a  sum  of  two  millions  of  taels,  on  account  of  the  losses  sus¬ 
tained  by  British  subjects  through  the  misconduct  of  the  Chinese  authorities  at  Can¬ 
ton,  and  a  farther  sum  of  two  millions  of  taels  on  account  of  the  military  expenses  of 
the  expedition  which  her  majesty  the  queen  has  been  compelled  to  send  out  for  the 
purpose  of  obtaining  redress,  and  of  enforcing  the  due  observance  of  treaty  provisions, 
shall  be  paid  to  her  majesty’s  representatives  in  China  by  the  authorities  of  the 
Kwang-tung  province. 

The  necessary  arrangements  with  respect  to  the  time  and  mode  of  effecting  these 
payments  shall  be  determined  by  her  majesty’s  representative,  in  concert  with  the 
Chinese  authorities  of  Kwang-tung. 

When  the  above  amount  shall  have  been  discharged  in  full,  the  British  forces  will 
be  withdrawn  from  Canton. 

Done  at  Tientsin,  this  twenty-sixth  day  of  June,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thou¬ 
sand  eight  hundred  and  fifty-eight ;  corresponding  with  the  Chinese  date,  the  six¬ 
teenth  day,  fifth  moon,  of  the  eighth  year  of  Ilien  Eung. 

(l.s.)  Elgin  and  Kincardine. 


Signature 
of  First  Chinese 
Plenipotentiary. 

Signature 
of  Second  Chinese 
Plenipotentiary. 

Seal 

of  the  Chinese 
Plenipotentiaries. 

622 


APPENDIX. 


No.  II. 

CORRESPONDENCE  RELATIVE  TO  A  RESIDENT  MINISTER  AT  PEKIN. 

No.  216. 

The  Earl  of  Elgin  to  the  Earl  of  Malmesbury .  ( Received  December  29.) 

(Extract.)  Shanghai,  November  5,  1858, 

In  my  dispatch  of  the  2 2d  ultimo  I  inclosed  a  precis  of  a  very  important  letter 
which  I  had  just  then  received  from  the  Chinese  imperial  commissioners.  I  inform¬ 
ed  your  lordship  that  it  was  very  becoming  in  its  tone,  but  that  it  expressed  a  very 
strong  hope  that  her  majesty  would  exercise  the  option  conferred  on  her  by  Article 
III.  of  the  Treaty  of  Tientsin,  by  directing  her  minister  to  visit  Pekin  occasionally, 
instead  of  residing  there  permanently,  and  I  requested  you  not  to  come  to  any  final 
decision  on  this  point  until  you  should  have  heard  from  me  again.  I  have  now  the 
honor  to  transmit  herewith  a  translation  of  the  letter  in  question,  and  of  the  corre¬ 
spondence  to  which  it  has  led. 

In  order  that  your  lordship  may  correctly  apprehend  the  drift  of  this  correspond¬ 
ence,  it  is  necessary  that  I  should  state  at  the  outset  that  the  Chinese  authorities  con¬ 
template  the  permanent  residence  of  foreign  ministers  at  the  capital  with  more  aver¬ 
sion  and  apprehension  than  any  of  the  other  innovations  introduced  by  the  Treaty  of 
Tientsin. 

In  reply  to  the  representations  which  I  have  been  able,  through  private  channels, 
to  make  to  them  in  favor  of  this  arrangement  as  the  best  means  of  obviating  interna¬ 
tional  disputes,  and  of  preventing  them,  when  they  chance  to  arise,  from  assuming 
undue  proportions,  they  are  wont  to  urge,  in  the  first  place,  of  course,  the  traditional 
policy  of  the  empire,  and,  then,  the  difficulties  in  which,  if  he  were  constantly  resi¬ 
dent  at  the  capital,  the  idiosyncracies  of  an  individual  foreign  functionary,  of  violent 
temper  and  overbearing  demeanor,  might  involve  them.  As  regards  this  latter  point 
(I  refer  now  to  communications  which  have  passed  between  us  through  official  chan¬ 
nels),  they  are  in  the  habit  of  illustrating  their  meaning  by  examples.  “  If  we  were 
quite  sure,”  say  they,  “  that  you  would  always  send  to  us  men  thoroughly  wise,  dis¬ 
creet,  and  considerate,  it  might  be  different ;  but  if,  for  instance,  so  and  so  were  ap¬ 
pointed  to  represent  a  foreign  government  at  Pekin  (and  the  right,  if  exercised  by 
you,  would,  of  course,  be  claimed  by  all  other  governments),  a  month  would  not 
elapse  before  something  would  occur  which  would  place  our  highest  officers  in  the 
dilemma  of  having  either  to  risk  a  quarrel  or  submit  to  some  indignity  which  would 
lower  the  Chinese  government  in  the  eyes  of  its  own  subjects.”  No  doubt  such  ap¬ 
prehensions  are  to  some  extent  chimerical ;  but  I  am  bound  to  admit  that  I  do  not 
consider  them  to  be  altogether  so.  The  doctrine  that  every  Chinaman  is  a  knave, 
and  manageable  only  by  bullying  and  bravado,  like  the  kindred  doctrine  that  every 
trading  junk  carries  guns  and  is  piratical,  is,  I  venture  with  all  deference  to  think, 
sometimes  pushed  a  little  too  far  in  our  dealings  with  this  people.  Be  this,  however, 
as  it  may,  I  advert  to  the  point  now  only  because  I  wish  your  lordship  to  understand 
that  I  believe  that  the  objections  to  the  permanent  residence  of  foreign  ministers  at 
Pekin,  which  the  Chinese  authorities  urge  on  this  head,  are  sincerely  entertained  by 
them,  and  not  entirely  groundless. 

Again,  we  know  from  the  “Pekin  Gazette”  that  the  emperor  has  issued  orders  for 
the  reconstruction  of  the  forts  which  we  knocked  down  at  the  mouth  of  the  Peiho, 
and  for  the  erection  of  other  works  to  protect  Pekin.  It  would  hardly,  I  think,  be 
reasonable  on  our  part  to  require  that  the  Emperor  of  China  should  leave  his  capital 


4 


APPENDIX. 


623 


undefended  for  the  express  purpose  of  enabling  us,  whenever  we  see  fit  so  to  do,  to 
attack  him  there.  Nor  do  I,  on  the  other  hand,  think  that  any  works  which  he  is 
likely  to  raise  will  prevent  us  from  reaching  it  if  we  resolve  to  go  thither  in  pur¬ 
suance  of  a  treaty-right.  At  the  same  time,  it  may  be  a  question  whether  it  would 
be  expedient  to  exercise  the  option  conferred  on  her  majesty  by  Article  III.  of  the 
Treaty  of  Tientsin  in  such  a  manner  as  would  force  the  emperor  to  choose  between 
a  desperate  attempt  at  resistance  and  passive  acquiescence  in  what  he  and  his  ad¬ 
visers  believe  to  be  the  greatest  calamity  which  can  befall  the  empire. 

Short,  however,  of  the  extreme  measure  of  a  forcible  resistance  to  the  invasion  of 
the  capital  by  foreign  ministers,  with  their  wives  and  establishments  (these  latter  be¬ 
ing,  it  appears,  in  the  eyes  of  the  Chinese,  more  formidable  than  the  ministers  them¬ 
selves),  there  is  a  risk  which  I  feel  myself  bound,  under  present  circumstances,  not 
to  pass  over  without  notice. 

Your  lordship  may  perhaps  remember  that,  on  the  eve  of  the  day  on  which  the 
Treaty  of  Tientsin  was  signed,  I  received  a  representation  to  the  effect  that  the  Chi¬ 
nese  commissioners  would  certainly  lose  their  heads  if  they  conceded  the  articles  in 
my  treaty  providing  for  the  residence  of  a  British  minister  at  Pekin,  and  empowering 
British  subjects  to  travel  through  the  country  for  trading  purposes. 

This  representation  caused  me  a  good  deal  of  anxiety  at  the  time,  but  I  resolved 
to  disregard  it,  and  to  act  on  the  hypothesis  that,  being  in  the  vicinity  of  Pekin  with 
an  armed  force,  I  might  so  demean  myself  as  to  make  the  emperor  think  that  he 
was  under  an  obligation  to  his  plenipotentiaries  for  having  made  peace  with  me  even 
on  the  terms  objected  to. 

The  result  justified  this  calculation.  Kweiliang  and  Hwashana,  the  commission¬ 
ers  who  negotiated  with  me  the  Treaty  of  Tientsin,  are  now  here,  and  seem  still  to 
enjoy  the  imperial  confidence  and  favor.  Moreover,  if  they  entertained  before  they 
arrived  here  any  hope  of  being  able  to  call  in  question  the  concessions  secured  to 
foreigners  by  that  treaty,  they  have  been  induced  since  their  arrival  entirely  to  aban¬ 
don  it,  partly  by  the  peremptory  language  which  I  held  to  them  respecting  affairs 
at  Canton,  and  partly  by  the  assurance  which  has  been  unofficially  conveyed  to 
them,  that,  if  they  act  toward  me  in  perfect  good  faith,  they  will  find  me  reasonable 
and  considerate.  If,  however,  after  having,  in  terms  so  ample  and  language  so 
respectful,  acceded  to  my  requirements,  they  are  compelled  to  report  to  the  emperor 
that  they  have  failed  to  obtain  from  me  any  consideration  whatever  for  the  repre¬ 
sentations  urged  by  them  on  behalf  of  their  sovereign,  I  fear  that  their  degradation 
and  punishment  will  be  inevitable,  and  I  need  hardly  say  that  an  occurrence  of  this 
nature  would  tend  much  to  unsettle  the  Chinese  mind,  and  to  beget  doubts  as  to  the 
emperor’s  intentions  with  respect  to  the  new  treaty. 

Moreover,  the  treaty-right  to  navigate  the  Yang-tze,  and  to  resort  to  ports  upon 
that  river  for  purposes  of  trade,  was  also  made  contingent  on  the  re-establishment 
of  the  imperial  authority  in  the  ports  in  qixestion ;  because,  as  we  have  seen  fit  to 
affect  neutrality  between  the  Emperor  of  China  and  the  rebels,  we  could  not,  of 
course,  without  absurdity,  require  him  to  give  us  rights  and  protection  in  places 
actually  occupied  by  a  power  which  we  treat  with  the  same  respect  as  his  own. 

Nevertheless,  it  is  important  that  it  should  be  known  to  Chinese  and  foreigners 
that  the  emperor  has  conceded  in  principle  the  opening  up  of  the  river ;  and  I  have 
long  thought  that  if  I  could  contrive  to  go  up  it  in  person,  with  the  consent  of  the 
imperial  government,  with  the  plea  of  selecting  the  ports  which  would  be  most  suit¬ 
able  for  foreign  trade,  it  would  be  a  very  effectual  way  of  tendering  to  the  public  the 
required  assurance  on  this  point. 


624 


APPENDIX. 


It  is  only,  however,  by  conciliating  the  good-will  of  the  imperial  commissioners 
that  this  result  can  be  brought  about ;  for,  until  the  Treaty  of  Tientsin  is  ratified,  I 
have  clearly  no  title  to  go  up  the  river  as  a  matter  of  right. 

I  might  refer  to  other  important  subjects  that  fall  within  the  category  of  matters 
which,  although  they  are  beyond  the  strict  provisions  of  the  treaty,  it  is  desirable,  if 
possible,  to  settle  amicably  at  the  present  time ;  but  I  think  it  unnecessary  to  swell 
this  dispatch  by  enumerating  them. 

Under  these  circumstances,  it  became  necessarily  my  duty  to  consider  whether  I 
might  not,  by  a  different  mode  of  proceeding,  turn  the  disposition  of  the  imperial 
commissioners  to  better  account. 

I  find,  on  inquiry,  that  by  adopting  a  more  conciliating  tone  in  reference  to  the 
subject  which  they  have  brought  under  my  notice,  I  can  secure  the  following  ob¬ 
jects  : 

Firstly,  I  can  obtain  from  them,  in  the  fullest  terms,  a  recognition  of  the  rights 
accruing  to  her  majesty  and  to  British  subjects,  under  the  Treaty  of  Tientsin,  in¬ 
cluding  that  very  right  of  the  permanent  establishment  of  a  minister  at  Pekin  which 
forms  the  subject  of  discussion ; 

Secondly,  I  can  induce  them  to  take  at  once  all  the  steps  for  giving  effect  to 
the  treaty  which  they  can  be  properly  required  to  take  previously  to  its  ratification ; 

Thirdly,  I  can  farther  induce  them  to  accede  to  my  wishes  in  reference  to  certain 
other  matters  not  covered  by  the  treaty,  but  to  which  I  attach,  nevertheless,  consid¬ 
erable  importance. 

Fourthly,  I  can  contrive  so  to  meet  their  proposal  as  to  leave  in  the  hands  of  her 
majesty’s  government,  to  be  wielded  at  its  will,  a  moral  lever  of  the  most  powerful 
description,  to  secure  the  faithful  observance  of  the  treaty  by  the  Chinese  govern¬ 
ment  in  all  time  to  come. 

As,  in  a  transaction  of  so  much  delicacy,  the  choice  of  each  word  is  important,  I 
must  refer  your  lordship  to  the  inclosed  correspondence  for  a  full  exposition  of  the 
method  which  I  have  pursued  in  furtherance  of  these  ends.  The  upshot  of  it  all  is 
this:  that  after  reserving,  in  the  most  unqualified  terms,  her  majesty’s  right  to  exer¬ 
cise  as  she  may  see  fit  the  option  conferred  on  her  by  Article  III.  of  the  Treaty  of 
Tientsin,  I  have  undertaken  to  communicate  to  her  majesty’s  government  the  rep¬ 
resentations  that  have  been  made  to  me  on  the  subject  by  the  Chinese  imperial  com¬ 
missioners,  and  humbly  to  submit  it  as  my  opinion  that  if  her  majesty’s  embassador 
be  properly  received  at  Pekin  when  the  ratifications  are  exchanged  next  year,  and 
full  effect  given  in  all  other  particulars  to  the  treaty  negotiated  at  Tientsin,  it  will 
be  expedient  that  her  majesty’s  representative  in  China  be  instructed  to  choose  a 
place  of  residence  elsewhere  than  at  Pekin,  and  to  make  his  visits  to  the  capital 
either  periodically,  or  as  frequently  as  the  exigencies  of  the  public  service  may  re¬ 
quire. 

In  pursuance  of  the  above  pledge,  I  address  to  your  lordship  the  present  com¬ 
munication,  and  respectfully  request  for  it  your  favorable  consideration. 

In  conclusion,  I  would  beg  leave  to  remind  your  lordship  that  it  is  only  in  the 
British  treaty  that  the  right  to  appoint  a  minister  to  reside  permanently  at  Pekin  is 
provided  for.  Any  other  nation  desiring  to  exercise  this  privilege  must  borrow  it 
from  that  treaty  under  the  most  favored  nation  clause ;  and  if  sxich  a  claim  on  the 
part  of  any  other  power  were  admitted,  of  course  the  objection  to  the  residence  of 
a  British  minister  at  the  capital  would  be  at  once,  by  that  fact,  removed. 

And,  farther,  although  I  adhere  to  every  opinion  I  have  formerly  expressed  with 
regard  to  the  importance  of  the  establishment  of  direct  diplomatic  relations  with  the 


APPENDIX. 


625 


court  of  Pekin,  I  am  bound  to  admit  that  the  position  of  a  British  minister  at  the 
capital  during  the  winter  months,  when  the  thermometer,  if  Humboldt  is  to  be  be¬ 
lieved,  falls  to  40°  below  zero,  the  River  Tientsin  is  frozen,  and  the  Gulf  of  Pechelee 
hardly  navigable,  would  not  be  altogether  a  pleasant  one ;  and  that  it  is  even  pos¬ 
sible  that,  under  such  circumstances,  his  actual  presence  might  be  to  the  mandarin 
mind  less  awe-inspiring  than  the  knowledge  of  the  fact  that  he  had  the  power  to  take 
up  his  abode  there  whenever  the  conduct  of  the  Chinese  government  gave  occasion 
for  complaint. 


Inclosure  1  in  No.  216. 

Commissioners  Kweiliang ,  Hwashana,  etc.,  to  the  Earl  of  Elgin. 

( Translation.) 

Kwei,  a  Chief  Secretary ;  Hwa,  President,  etc. ;  Ho,  Governor  General  of  the  Two 
Kiang ;  Ming,  an  officer  of  the  Household ;  and  Tvvau,  a  titulary  President,  etc.,  Im¬ 
perial  Commissioners,  make  a  communication. 

The  proper  end  of  treaty  negotiations  is  the  maintenance  of  peace  between  two 
nations,  with  such  an  interchange  of  good  offices  that  neither  side  is  advantaged  to 
the  prejudice  of  the  other ;  it  will  continue  long  in  operation,  its  benefit  unmixed. 

This  is  the  object  really  belonging  to  treating  of  peace  and  to  improvement  of  re¬ 
lations. 

When  the  Commissioners  Kwei  and  Hwa  negotiated  a  treaty  with  your  excellency 
at  Tientsin,  British  vessels  of  war  were  lying  at  that  port ;  there  was  the  pressure  of 
an  armed  force,  a  state  of  excitement  and  alarm  ;*  and  the  treaty  had  to  be  signed 
at  once,  without  a  moment’s  delay.  Deliberation  was  out  of  the  question  ;  the  com¬ 
missioners  had  no  alternative  but  to  accept  the  conditions  forced  upon  them.f 
Among  these  were  some  of  real  injury  to  China,  (to  waive  which)  would  have  been 
of  no  disadvantage  to  your  excellency’s  government ;  but  in  the  hurry  of  the  moment, 
the  commissioners  had  no  opportunity  of  offering  your  excellency  a  frank  explana¬ 
tion  of  these. 

On  their  return  to  the  capital,  accordingly,  his  majesty  the  emperor  issued  a  special 
commission  to  us  all  to  come  to  Shanghai  to  consult  together,  and  earnestly  to  press 
a  matter  which  will  be  to  the  common  advantage  of  both  parties. 

The  sincerity  of  our  desire  for  a  lasting  continuance  of  friendly  relations  is  plain 
to  the  clear  sight  of  your  excellency ;  and  it  is  naturally  our  duty,  acting  toward  you 
in  a  spirit  of  honesty,  and  with  no  intention  to  deceive,  to  set  forth  with  all  truth  the 
matter  which  is  the  most  irksome  to  China. 

In  Article  III.  of  the  treaty  it  is  laid  down  that  “the  embassador,  or  other  such 
high  officer  of  her  majesty  the  Queen  of  England,  may  reside  permanently  at  the 
capital,  or  may  visit  it  occasionally,  at  the  option  of  the  British  government.”  (The 
employment  of)  the  word  “or”  expressing,  as  it  undoubtedly  does,  the  absence  of  a 
decision,  is  evidence  enough  of  the  sense  and  reasonableness  of  your  excellency,  who 
would  not  precipitately  decide  upon  an  arbitrary  course  toward  any  one. 

Now  the  majority  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  capital  are  Banner-men,  £  who,  never 

*  Lit.,  weapons  of  war  were  constraining,  there  was  a  state  of  crackling  fire  and  of  rushing  water. 

t  Lit.,  could  only  bend  and  give  consent.  The  word  rendered  ubend”  generally  implies  the  em¬ 
ployment  of  undue  violence. 

t  Banner-men :  the  Manchus,  Mongols,  and  Chinese,  enrolled  on  the  same  footing,  are  formed  into 
eight  banners,  under  an  establishment  part  civil,  part  military. 

R  R 


626 


APPENDIX. 


having  been  beyond  its  walls,  or  in  intercourse  with  other  poeple,  are  quite  ignorant 
of  the  feelings  of  men  or  the  ways  of  the  world  outside.  The  business  the  officials, 
high  and  low,  have  to  transact  in  the  capital,  again,  is  entirely  metropolitan. 

They  have  had  no  personal  experience  of  the  popular  feeling  on  public  affairs  of 
provinces,  and  know  nothing  whatever  about  them.  Then  the  habits  and  dispositions 
of  the  people  of  the  capital  are  different  from  those  of  the  eastern  and  southern  prov¬ 
inces.  If  foreigners  reside  in  Pekin,  it  will  certainly  come  to  pass  that  in  their  move¬ 
ments  something  will  create  misgiving  and  surprise  on  the  part  of  the  multitude ; 
any  slight  misunderstanding  will  be  sure  to  beget  a  quarrel ;  and  great,  indeed,  would 
be  the  injury  to  our  country  were  some  trifling  cause  of  difference  to  attain  serious 
dimensions.*  China,  too,  is  at  the  present  moment  in  a  crisis  of  great  difficulty,  and 
should  the  people,  as  it  is  to  be  apprehended  they  might,  be  misled  by  idle  words  upon 
this  point,  they  would  commence  some  trouble  in  addition  (to  those  already  on  our 
hands).  It  would  never  do,  surely,  to  bring  China  to  such  a  pass. 

Peace  being  now  to  endure  to  perpetuity  between  China  and  your  excellency’s 
country,  the  grand  object  of  both  must  be  their  common  interest,  a  community  of  weal 
and  woe. 

The  fairness  with  which  your  excellency  proceeds  in  business  is  well  known  to  us : 
you  would  be  reluctant  to  impose  a  task  of  difficulty  upon  a  friendly  state ;  nor  surely 
can  there  be  less  reluctance  on  the  part  of  her  majesty,  the  sovereign  of  your  excel¬ 
lency’s  country,  illustrious  for  well-doing  and  justice,  equitable  in  her  administration, 
to  employ  the  wealth  of  her  realm  and  the  power  of  her  arm  in  inflicting  this  injury 
upon  our  country,  in  disregard  of  the  amicable  dispositions  of  China. 

Besides,  by  every  article  of  the  treaty,  several  times  ten  in  number,  your  country  is 
a  gainer,  and  to  no  slight  extent. 

The  assent  of  his  majesty  the  emperor  to  every  proposition  really  showed  an  ex¬ 
traordinary  desire  to  accommodate  a  large  abundance  of  kindly  feeling. 

The  condition  of  residence  at  Pekin  is  very  irksome  to  China,  and  as  the  French 
and  Americans  have  not  this  privilege  (lit.,  article),  and  it  is  only  your  nation  that 
has,  we  beg  your  excellency  to  consider  what  compromise  may  be  effected,  and  to  dis¬ 
pense  with  its  peremptory  (enforcement). 

Should  such  an  arrangement  be  agreed  on  as  is  proposed,  the  emperor  will  still 
specially  depute,  on  the  part  of  China,  a  chief  secretary  of  state,  or  president  of  a 
board,  to  reside  in  the  provinces,  at  whatever  point  the  high  officer  sent  by  your  ex¬ 
cellency’s  government  may  see  fit  to  choose  for  his  residence.  When  Nankin  is  re¬ 
taken,  he  may,  if  it  suit  him,  reside  at  Nankin. 

The  several  provisions  of  the  treaty  recently  concluded  are,  without  doubt,  to  be 
observed  (or  will  be  sure  to  be  observed)  from  this  time  forth  for  evermore.  On  the 
violation  of  any  of  them,  it  will  be  open  (to  the  minister)  to  establish  himself  per¬ 
manently  at  the  capital.  ' 

In  making  this  request  we  have  not  the  smallest  intention  of  violating  the  treaty. 
We  write  to  propose  that  the  point  be  reconsidered  in  our  behalf  simply  because  the 
words  “either”  and  “or”  leave  it  undecided,  and  we  trust  your  excellency  will 
yield  it. 

If  there  be  any  thing  else  which  may  be  to  the  advantage  of  your  country,  with¬ 
out  doing  injury  to  ours,  it  will  be  similarly  for  us  to  consider  the  means  of  accom¬ 
modating  you. 

A  necessary  communication  addressed  to  the  Earl  of  Elgin,  etc. 

Hien-fung,  8th  year,  9th  moon,  10th  day  (October  22,  1858). 

*  Lit.,  because  of  some  little  thing,  agitation,  or  ferment,  should  grow  to  great  hurt. 


APPENDIX. 


627 


Inclosure  2  in  No.  216. 

The  Earl  of  Elgin  to  Commissioners  Kweiliang ,  Hwashana ,  etc. 

The  undersigned  has  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  the  imperial  com¬ 
missioner’s  letter  of  the  22d  instant. 

The  commissioners  express  a  hope  that  the  undersigned  will  consent  to  the  estab¬ 
lishment  of  her  majesty’s  minister  in  China  at  some  other  place  than  Pekin.  They 
base  their  appeal  to  the  undersigned  upon  the  wording  of  Article  III.  of  the  Treaty 
of  Tientsin,  which  they  quote. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  undersigned  at  once  to  declare  emphatically  that  it  is  not  in 
his  power  to  alter  or  modify  the  conditions  of  the  treaty  signed  at  Tientsin.  It  must 
rest  with  her  Britannic  majesty  alone  to  decide  which  of  the  two  courses  left  open  by 
treaty  to  her  majesty  is  the  more  expedient — the  permanent  residence  of  her  repre¬ 
sentative  at  the  capita],  or  his  occasional  appearance  there.  The  undersigned  would, 
moreover,  impress  upon  the  commissioners  that,  in  insisting  on  the  insertion  of  the 
article  in  question  in  the  treaty,  he  was  actuated  by  no  intention  to  do  injury  to 
China,  but  by  an  earnest  desire  to  obtain  the  best  possible  security  for  the  preserva¬ 
tion  of  peace  between  the  two  countries. 

It  is  the  usage  of  England,  France,  America,  Russia,  and  every  other  power  in  the 
Western  world,  to  maintain  representatives  at  each  other’s  capitals.  These  being  in 
direct  communication  with  high  officers  specially  appointed  to  administer  foreign 
affairs,  the  contingency  of  serious  differences  has  been  found  to  be,  in  a  great  meas¬ 
ure,  averted. 

It  has  been  the  custom  with  China  to  intrust  the  administration  of  foreign  affairs 
to  an  imperial  commissioner  at  a  great  distance  from  the  capital. 

The  result  has  been  a  succession  of  misunderstandings  between  that  officer  and  the 
representatives  of  foreign  nations.  The  court  of  Pekin  has  persisted  in  ignoring  all 
complaints  against  this  functionary,  whose  reports  to  it,  on  the  other  hand,  have  not 
been  either  complete  or  exact. 

Hence  all  that  has  happened  of  hostility ;  and  it  was  to  secure  such  a  guarantee 
as  the  practice  of  Western  nations  has  shown  to  be  of  some  avail  against  the  recur¬ 
rence  of  wars,  to  ward  off  the  necessity  for  farther  capture  of  cities  and  destruction 
of  forts,  that  the  undersigned,  under  the  instruction  of  her  majesty’s  government,  de¬ 
manded  access  for  her  majesty’s  representative  to  the  capital. 

The  right  of  that  officer  to  reside  at  Pekin,  if  her  majesty  shall  see  fit,  being  de¬ 
termined  by  treaty,  the  undersigned  begs  to  repeat  that  no  act  or  word  of  his  can  re¬ 
strict  its  exercise  as  the  commissioners  propose ;  nor,  indeed,  will  he  lightly  under¬ 
take,  the  great  object  of  the  treaty  concession  considered,  to  recommend  its  restric¬ 
tion. 

That  object  has  been  clearly  stated  to  the  commissioners,  and  the  undersigned 
really  fears  that  it  will  not  be  in  the  power  of  their  excellencies  to  offer  any  guaran¬ 
tee  for  the  good  faith  of  the  imperial  government,  and  for  the  maintenance  of  peace 
between  the  countries,  equivalent  to  that  which  would  be  furnished  by  the  perma¬ 
nent  residence  of  a  British  minister  at  Pekin. 

Shanghai,  October  25, 1S58. 


(Signed), 


Elgin  and  Kincardine. 


628 


APPENDIX. 


Inclosure  8  in  No.  21G. 

Commissioners  Kiveiliang ,  Hwashana,  etc .,  to  the  Earl  of  Elgin. 

( Translation.) 

Kwei,  a  Chief  Secretary,  etc.  ;  Hwa,  President  of  the  Board  of  Civil  Office ;  Ho, 
Governor  General  of  the  Two  Iviang ;  Ming,  a  high  officer  of  the  Household ;  Twau, 
a  titulary  President,  Imperial  Commissioners,  make  a  communication  in  reply. 

We  are  in  receipt  of  your  excellency’s  letter  of  the  (25th  October),  to  the  effect 
that  when  you  insisted  in  Article  III.  of  the  Treaty  of  Tientsin  that  her  Britannic 
majesty’s  representatives  should  either  reside  in  permanence  at  the  capital,  or  visit  it 
from  time  to  time,  you  were  actuated  by  no  unfriendly  feeling  toward  China,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  by  a  sincere  desire  for  the  continuance  of  peace  between  the  two  coun¬ 
tries,  and  that,  the  importance  considered  of  the  condition  regarding  the  permanent 
residence  of  the  British  minister  at  Pekin,  viewed  as  a  guarantee  of  good  faith  on  the 
part  of  China,  and  uninterruptedness  of  friendly  relations  between  our  two  countries, 
it  will  be  difficult  for  us,  you  fear,  to  substitute  any  guarantee  of  equal  value. 

Inasmuch  as  in  the  Treaty  of  Peace  concluded  between  our  two  nations,  it  is  laid 
down  that  the  British  minister  shall  either  reside  in  permanence  at  the  capital  or 
visit  it  occasionally,  at  the  option  of  the  British  government,  such  being  the  plain 
language  of  the  article,  it  must  doubtless  be  abided  by ;  and  if  it  be  the  fixed  purpose 
of  your  excellency’s  government  that  the  residence  (of  the  minister)  shall  be  perma¬ 
nent,  China  can  not,  of  course,  gainsay  this. 

The  established  reputation  of  your  excellency  for  justice  and  straightforwardness, 
for  kind  intentions  and  friendly  feeling,  make  us  place  the  fullest  confidence  in  your 
assurance  that  when  you  exacted  the  condition  referred  to,  you  were  actuated  by  no 
desire  whatever  to  do  injury  to  China.  The  permanent  residence  of  foreign  minis¬ 
ters  at  the  capital  would,  notwithstanding,  be  an  injury  to  China  in  many  more  ways 
than  we  can  find  words  to  express.  In  sum,  in  the  present  critical  and  troublous 
state  of  our  country,  this  incident  would  generate,  we  fear,  a  loss  of  respect  for  their 
government  in  the  eyes  of  her  people ;  and  that  this  would  indeed  be  no  slight 
evil,  it  will  not  be  necessary,  we  assume,  to  explain  to  your  excellency,  with  greater 
detail. 

It  is  for  this  reason  that  we  specially  address  you  a  second  letter  on  this  subject, 
and  we  trust  that  your  excellency  will  represent  for  us  to  her  majesty  your  sovereign 
the  great  inconvenience  you  feel  (the  exercise  of  the  right  would  be)  to  our  country, 
and  beseech  her  not  to  decide  in  favor  of  the  permanent  residence  at  Pekin. 

When  we  bethink  us  of  the  lustre  shed  by  the  well-doing  and  justice  of  her  maj¬ 
esty,  we  feel  assured  that  she  would  not  wish,  by  being  peremptory  in  a  matter  so 
hurtful  to  our  country,  to  involve  it  in  embarrassment ;  and  our  country  will  not  fail 
to  be  impressed  with  gratitude. 

We  are  ourselves  in  perfect  good  faith,  and  if  there  be  any  method  of  proceeding 
by  adopting  which  we  demonstrate  our  sincerity,  we  beg  your  excellency  to  state  it 
frankly ;  there  is  no  satisfactory  arrangement  we  are  not  ready  to  make. 

It  is  our  earnest  hope  the  present  feeling  maybe  constantly  observed  on  both  sides, 
and  that  our  two  countries,  evermore  at  peace  with  one  another,  may  continue  in  the 
enjoyment  of  comfort  and  advantage. 

A  necessary  communication,  etc. 

Hien-fung,  8th  year,  9th  moon,  22d  day  (October  28,  1858). 


APPENDIX. 


629 


Inclosure  4  in  No.  216. 

The  Earl  of  Elgin  to  Commissioners  Kweiliang ,  Hwashana ,  etc. 

The  undersigned  has  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  imperial  commissioners’  letter 
of  the  28th  instant. 

The  imperial  commissioners  observe  that  if,  in  accordance  with  the  plain  language 
of  the  treaty-stipulations,  her  majesty’s  government  shall  determine  to  place  the 
British  minister  in  permanence  at  Pekin,  it  is  impossible  for  Chiila  to  gainsay  this 
determination.  This  is  doubtless  a  correct  appreciation  of  the  inviolability  of  the 
conditions  by  treaty  agreed  to. 

Their  excellencies  admit,  at  the  same  time,  their  faith  in  the  undersigned’s  assur¬ 
ance  that  this  treaty-right  was  not  insisted  on  by  the  undersigned  with  any  intention 
to  do  injury  to  China,  but,  on  the  contrary,  in  a  sincere  desire  to  secure  a  continu¬ 
ance  of  peace  between  the  two  countries.  Their  excellencies,  he  begs  to  assure 
them,  do  no  more  than  justice  to  the  intentions  of  the  undersigned. 

The  exercise  of  the  treaty-right  in  question,  their  letter  proceeds  to  urge,  is,  not¬ 
withstanding,  of  serious  prejudice  to  China,  mainly  because,  in  her  present  crisis  of 
domestic  troubles,  it  would  tend  to  cause  a  loss  of  respect  for  their  government  in  the 
minds  of  her  subjects  ;  and  their  excellencies  accordingly  request  the  undersigned  to 
beseech  her  majesty,  to  whom  the  treaty  undoubtedly  leaves  it  to  determine  whether 
or  not  her  representatives  shall  permanently  reside  at  the  capital,  or  occasionally 
visit  it,  to  decide  in  favor  of  the  latter  course. 

Their  proposal  has  been  attentively  considered  by  the  undersigned ;  and  he  now 
begs  to  state  that,  although  he  is  resolved  by  no  act  or  word  to  abate  one  tittle  of  the 
rights  secured  to  his  government  by  treaty,  it  is  his  wish,  so  far  as  such  a  course  is 
consistent  with  his  duty,  to  endeavor  to  reconcile  due  consideration  of  the  feelings  of 
the  Chinese  government  with  the  satisfaction  of  the  rights  of  his  own.  He  is  pre¬ 
pared,  consequently,  on  viewing  the  whole  of  the  circumstances  before  him,  at  once 
to  communicate  to  her  majesty’s  government  the  representations  that  have  been  ad¬ 
dressed  to  him  by  their  excellencies  the  imperial  commissioners  upon  this  important 
question,  and  humbly  to  submit  it  as  his  opinion  that  if  her  majesty’s  embassador  be 
properly  received  at  Pekin  when  the  ratifications  are  exchanged  next  year,  and  full 
effect  given  in  all  other  particulars  to  the  treaty  negotiated  at  Tientsin,  it  would  cer¬ 
tainly  be  expedient  that  her  majesty’s  representative  in  China  should  be  instructed  to 
choose  a  place  of  residence  elsewhere  than  at  Pekin,  and  to  make  his  visits  to  the 
capital  either  periodical,  or  only  as  frequent  as  the  exigencies  of  the  public  service 
may  require. 

Her  majesty’s  treaty-right  will,  of  course,  in  any  case,  remain  intact ;  but  the  un¬ 
dersigned  will  take  on  himself  so  to  express  his  conviction  that,  so  long  as  the  impe¬ 
rial  government  adheres  with  fidelity  to  its  obligations  toward  England,  China  will 
have  no  cause  to  complain  of  a  want  of  consideration  on  the  part  of  the  government 
of  her  Britannic  majesty. 

The  anxiety  expressed  by  their  excellencies  for  an  enduring  continuance  of  peace 
is  not  stronger  than  the  desire  of  the  undersigned  for  an  improvement  of  the  friendly 
relations  which  he  trusts  from  this  time  forth  are  now  established  between  the  two 
countries ;  and,  with  a  view  to  the  removal  of  all  doubts  and  misgivings,  he  begs  to 
add  that  if,  in  the  opinion  of  the  commissioners,  the  discussion  of  any  proposition  of 
common  interest  would  be  rendered  easier  or  more  advantageous  by  personal  explana¬ 
tion,  the  undersigned  is  willing  to  confer  with  their  excellencies  whenever  an  interview 
may  be  convenient  to  them.  (Signed),  Elgin  and  Kincardine. 


630 


APPENDIX. 


No.  III. 

THE  TREATY  OF  YEDO. 

Inclosure  in  No.  200. 

Treaty  of  Peace ,  Friendship ,  and  Commerce ,  between  Her  Majesty  and  the  Tycoon  of 

Japan.  Signed  in  the  English ,  Japanese ,  and  Dutch  languages ,  at  Yedo,  August  2G, 

1858. 

Her  majesty  the  Queen  of  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland, 
and  his  majesty  the  Tycoon  of  Japan,  being  desirous  to  place  the  relations  between 
the  two  countries  on  a  permanent  and  friendly  footing,  and  to  facilitate  commercial 
intercourse  between  their  respective  subjects,  and  having  for  that  purpose  resolved 
to  enter  into  a  treaty  of  Peace,  Amity,  and  Commerce,  have  named  as  their  pleni¬ 
potentiaries,  that  is  to  say  : 

Her  majesty  the  Queen  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  the  Right  Honorable  the 
Earl  of  Elgin  and  Kincardine,  a  Peer  of  the  United  Kingdom,  and  Knight  of  the 
Most  Ancient  and  Most  Noble  Order  of  the  Thistle  : 

And  his  majesty  the  Tycoon  of  Japan,  Midzno  Tsikfogono  Kami ;  Nagai  Gem- 
bano  Kami ;  Inouwye  Sinano  no  Kami ;  Hori  Oribeno  Kami :  Iwase  Higono  Kami ; 
and  Tsuda  Hanzabro ; 

Who,  after  having  communicated  to  each  other  their  respective  full  powers,  and 
found  them  to  be  in  good  and  due  form,  havp  agreed  upon  and  concluded  the  follow¬ 
ing  articles : 


ARTICLE  I. 

There  shall  be  perpetual  peace  and  friendship  between  her  majesty  the  Queen  of 
the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  her  heirs  and  successors,  and  his 
majesty  the  Tycoon  of  Japan,  and  between  their  respective  dominions  and  subjects. 

ARTICLE  II. 

Her  majesty  the  Queen  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  may  appoint  a  diplomatic 
agent  to  reside  at  the  city  of  Yedo,  and  consuls  or  consular  agents  to  reside  at  any 
or  all  the  ports  of  J apan  which  are  opened  for  British  commerce  by  this  treaty. 

The  diplomatic  agent  and  consul  general  of  Great  Britain  shall  have  the  right  to 
travel  freely  to  any  part  of  the  empire  of  Japan. 

His  majesty  the  Tycoon  of  Japan  may  appoint  a  diplomatic  agent  to  reside  in 
London,  and  consuls,  or  consular  agents,  at  any  or  all  the  ports  of  Great  Britain. 

The  diplomatic  agent  and  consul  general  of  Japan  shall  have  the  right  to  travel 
freely  to  any  part  of  Great  Britain. 


ARTICLE  III. 

The  ports  and  towns  of  Hakodadi,  Ivanagawa,  and  Nagasaki  shall  be  opened  to 
British  subjects  on  the  first  of  July,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  fifty-nine.  In 
addition  to  which,  the  following  ports  and  towns  shall  be  opened  to  them  at  the  dates 
hereinafter  specified  : 

Nee-c-gata,  or,  if  Nee-e-gata  be  found  to  be  unsuitable  as  a  harbor,  another  con¬ 
venient  port  on  the  west  coast  of  Nipon,  on  the  first  day  of  January,  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  sixty. 

Iliogo,  on  the  first  day  of  January,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three. 


APPENDIX. 


631 


In  all  the  foregoing  ports  and  towns  British  subjects  may  permanently  reside. 
They  shall  have  the  right  to  lease  ground,  and  purchase  the  buildings  thereon,  and 
may  erect  dwelling  and  warehouses  ;  but  no  fortification,  or  place  of  military  strength, 
shall  be  erected  under  pretense  of  building  dwelling  or  warehouses :  and  to  see  that 
this  article  is  observed,  the  Japanese  authorities  shall  have  the  right  to  inspect,  from 
time  to  time,  any  buildings  which  are  being  erected,  altered,  or  repaired. 

The  place  which  British  subjects  shall  occupy  for  their  buildings,  and  the  harbor 
regulations,  shall  be  arranged  by  the  British  consul  and  the  Japanese  authorities  of 
each  place,  and,  if  they  can  not  agree,  the  matter  shall  be  referred  to  and  settled  by 
the  British  diplomatic  agent  and  the  Japanese  government.  No  wall,  fence,  or  gate 
shall  be  erected  by  the  Japanese  around  the  place  where  British  subjects  reside,  or 
any  thing  done  which  may  prevent  a  free  egress  or  ingress  to  the  same. 

British  subjects  shall  be  free  to  go  where  they  please,  within  the  following  limits, 
at  the  opened  ports  of  Japan. 

At  Kanagawa  to  the  River  Logo  (which  empties  into  the  bay  of  Yedo,  between 
Kawasaki  and  Sinagowa),  and  ten  ri  in  any  direction. 

At  Hakodadi,  ten  ri  in  any  direction. 

At  Hiogo,  ten  ri  in  any  direction,  that  of  Kioto  excepted,  which  city  shall  not  be 
approached  nearer  than  ten  ri.  The  crews  of  vessels  resorting  to  Hiogo  shall  not 
cross  the  river  Enagawa,  which  empties  into  the  bay  between  Hiogo  and  Osaca. 

The  distance  shall  be  measured  by  land  from  the  goyoso,  or  town-hall,  of  each  of 
the  foregoing  ports,  the  ri  being  equal  to  four  thousand  two  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  yards  English  measure. 

At  Nagasaki,  British  subjects  may  go  into  any  part  of  the  imperial  domain  in  its 
vicinity. 

The  boundaries  of  Nee-e-gata,  or  the  place  that  may  be  substituted  for  it,  shall  be 
settled  by  the  British  diplomatic  agent  and  the  government  of  Japan. 

From  the  first  day  of  January,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-two,  British 
subjects  shall  be  allowed  to  reside  in  the  city  of  Yedo,  and  from  the  first  day  of 
January,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  in  the  city  of  Osaca,  for  the 
purposes  of  trade  only.  In  each  of  these  two  cities  a  suitable  place,  within  which 
they  may  hire  houses,  and  the  distance  they  may  go,  shall  be  arranged  by  the  British 
diplomatic  agent  and  the  government  of  J apan. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

All  questions  in  regard  to  rights,  whether  of  property  or  person,  arising  between 
British  subjects  in  the  dominions  of  his  majesty  the  Tycoon  of  Japan,  shall  be  subject 
to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  British  authorities. 

ARTICLE  V. 

Japanese  subjects,  who  may  be  guilty  of  any  criminal  act  toward  British  subjects, 
shall  be  arrested  and  punished  by  the  Japanese  authorities,  according  to  the  laws  of 
Japan. 

British  subjects,  who  may  commit  any  crime  against  Japanese  subjects,  or  the 
subjects  or  citizens  of  any  other  country,  shall  be  tried  and  punished  by  the  consul, 
or  other  public  functionary  authorized  thereto,  according  to  the  laws  of  Great  Britain. 

Justice  shall  be  equitably  and  impartially  administered  on  both  sides. 


632 


APPENDIX. 


ARTICLE  VI. 

A  British  subject  having  reason  to  complain  of  a  Japanese,  must  proceed  to  the 
consulate  and  state  his  grievance. 

The  consul  will  inquire  into  the  merits  of  the  case,  and  do  his  utmost  to  arrange 
it  amicably.  In  like  manner,  if  a  Japanese  have  reason  to  complain  of  a  British 
subject,  the  consul  shall  no  less  listen  to  his  complaint,  and  endeavor  to  settle  it  in  a 
friendly  manner.  If  disputes  take  place  of  such  a  nature  that  the  consul  can  not  ar¬ 
range  them  amicably,  then  he  shall  request  the  assistance  of  the  Japanese  authorities, 
that  they  may  together  examine  into  the  merits  of  the  case,  and  decide  it  equitably. 

ARTICLE  VII. 

Should  any  Japanese  subject  fail  to  discharge  debts  incurred  to  a  British  subject, 
or  should  he  fraudulently  abscond,  the  Japanese  authorities  will  do  their  utmost  to 
bring  him  to  justice,  and  to  enforce  recovery  of  the  debts ;  and  should  any  British 
subject  fraudulently  abscond  or  fail  to  discharge  debts  incurrred  by  him  to  a  Japa¬ 
nese  subject,  the  British  authorities  will,  in  like  manner,  do  their  utmost  to  bring  him 
to  justice,  and  to  enforce  the  recovery  of  the  debts. 

Neither  the  British  or  Japanese  governments  are  to  be  held  responsible  for  the 
payment  of  any  debts  contracted  by  British  or  Japanese  subjects. 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

The  Japanese  government  will  place  no  restrictions  whatever  upon  the  employ¬ 
ment,  by  British  subjects,  of  Japanese  in  any  lawful  capacity. 

ARTICLE  IX. 

British  subjects  in  Japan  shall  be  allowed  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion,  and 
for  this  purpose  shall  have  the  right  to  erect  suitable  places  of  worship. 

ARTICLE  X. 

All  foreign  coin  shall  be  current  in  Japan,  and  shall  pass  for  its  corresponding 
weight  in  Japanese  coin  of  the  same  description. 

British  and  Japanese  subjects  may  freely  use  foreign  or  Japanese  coin  in  making 
payments  to  each  other. 

As  some  time  will  elapse  before  the  Japanese  will  become  acquainted  with  the 
value  of  foreign  coin,  the  Japanese  government  will,  for  the  period  of  one  year  after 
the  opening  of  each  port,  furnish  British  subjects  with  Japanese  coin  in  exchange 
for  theirs,  equal  weights  being  given,  and  no  discount  taken  for  recoinage. 

Coin  of  all  description  (with  the  exception  of  Japanese  copper  coin),  as  well  as 
foreign  gold  and  silver  uncoined,  may  be  exported  from  Japan. 

ARTICLE  XI. 

Supplies  for  the  use  of  the  British  navy  may  be  landed  at  Ivanagawa,  Hakodadi, 
and  Nagasaki,  and  stored  in  wTarehouses,  in  the  custody  of  an  officer  of  the  British 
government,  without  the  payment  of  any  duty  ;  but  if  any  such  supplies  are  sold  in 
Japan,  the  purchaser  shall  pay  the  proper  duty  to  the  Japanese  authorities. 

ARTICLE  XII. 

If  any  British  vessel  be  at  any  time  wrecked  or  stranded  on  the  coasts  of  Japan, 
or  be  compelled  to  take  refuge  in  any  port  within  the  dominions  of  the  Tycoon  of 


APPENDIX. 


633 

Japan,  the  Japanese  authorities,  on  being  apprised  of  the  fact,  shall  immediately 
render  all  the  assistance  in  their  power ;  the  persons  on  board  shall  receive  friendly 
treatment,  and  be  furnished,  if  necessary,  with  the  means  of  conveyance  to  the  near' 
est  consular  station. 


ARTICLE  XIII. 

Any  British  merchant- vessel  arriving  off  one  of  the  open  ports  of  Japan  shall  be 
at  liberty  to  hire  a  pilot  to  take  her  into  port.  In  like  manner,  after  she  has  dis¬ 
charged  all  legal  dues  and  duties,  and  is  ready  to  take  her  departure,  she  shall  be 
allowed  to  hire  a  pilot  to  conduct  her  out  of  port. 

ARTICLE  XIV. 

At  each  of  the  ports  open  to  trade,  British  subjects  shall  be  at  full  liberty  to  import 
from  their  own  or  any  other  ports,  and  sell  there,  and  purchase  therein,  and  export 
to  their  own  or  any  other  ports,  all  manner  of  merchandise,  not  contraband,  paying 
the  duties  thereon^  as  laid  down  in  the  tariff  annexed  to  the  present  treaty,  and  no 
other  charges  whatsoever. 

With  the  exception  of  munitions  of  war,  which  shall  only  be  sold  to  the  Japanese 
government  and  foreigners,  they  may  freely  buy  from  Japanese,  and  sell  to  them,  any 
articles  that  either  may  have  for  sale,  without  the  intervention  of  any  Japanese 
officers  in  such  purchase  or  sale,  or  in  making  or  receiving  payments  for  the  same ; 
and  all  classes  of  Japanese  may  purchase,  sell,  keep,  or  use  any  articles  sold  to  them 
by  British  subjects. 


ARTICLE  XV. 

If  the  Japanese  Custom-house  officers  are  dissatisfied  with  the  value  placed  on  any 
goods  by  the  owner,  they  may  place  a  value  thereon,  and  offer  to  take  the  goods  at 
that  valuation.  If  the  owner  refuses  to  accept  the  offer,  he  shall  pay  duty  on  such 
valuation.  If  the  offer  be  accepted  by  the  owner,  the  purchase-money  shall  be  paid 
to  him  without  delay,  and  without  any  abatement  or  discount. 

ARTICLE  XVI. 

All  goods  imported  into  Japan  by  British  subjects,  and  which  have  paid  the  duty 
fixed  by  this  treaty,  may  be  transported  by  the  Japanese  into  any  part  of  the  empire 
without  the  payment  of  any  tax,  excise,  or  transit-duty  whatever. 

ARTICLE  XVII. 

British  merchants  who  may  have  imported  merchandise  into  any  open  port  in 
Japan,  and  paid  duty  thereon,  shall  be  entitled,  on  obtaining  from  the  Japanese 
Custom-house  authorities  a  certificate  stating  that  such  payment  has  been  made,  to 
re-export  the  same,  and  land  it  in  any  other  of  the  open  ports  without  the  payment 
of  any  additional  duty  whatever. 


ARTICLE  XVIII. 

The  Japanese  authorities  at  each  port  will  adopt  the  means  that  they  may  judge 
most  proper  for  the  prevention  of  fraud  or  smuggling. 

ARTICLE  XIX. 

All  penalties  enforced,  or  confiscations  made  under  this  treaty,  shall  belong  to,  and 
be  appropriated  by,  the  government  of  his  majesty  the  Tycoon  of  Japan. 


634 


APPENDIX. 


ARTICLE  XX. 

The  articles  for  the  regulation  of  trade  which  are  appended  to  this  treaty  shall  be 
considered  as  forming  part  of  the  same,  and  shall  be  equally  binding  on  both  the  con¬ 
tracting  parties  to  this  treaty  and  on  their  subjects. 

The  diplomatic  agent  of  Great  Britain  in  Japan,  in  conjunction  with  such  person 
or  persons  as  may  be  appointed  for  that  purpose  by  the  Japanese  government,  shall 
have  power  to  make  such  rules  as  may  be  required  to  carry  into  full  and  complete 
effect  the  provisions  of  this  treaty,  and  the  provisions  of  the  articles  regulating  trade 
appended  thereto. 

ARTICLE  XXI. 

This  treaty  being  written  in  the  English,  Japanese,  and  Dutch  languages,  and  all 
the  versions  having  the  same  meaning  and  intention,  the  Dutch  version  shall  be  con¬ 
sidered  the  original ;  but  it  is  understood  that  all  official  communications  addressed 
by  the  diplomatic  and  consular  agents  of  her  majesty  the  Queen  of  Great  Britain  to 
the  Japanese  authorities  shall  henceforward  be  written  in  English.  In  order,  how¬ 
ever,  to  facilitate  the  transaction  of  business,  they  will,  for  a  period  of  five  years  from 
the  signature  of  this  treaty,  be  accompanied  by  a  Dutch  or  Japanese  version. 

ARTICLE  XXII. 

It  is  agreed  that  either  of  the  high  contracting  parties  to  this  treaty,  on  giving  one 
year’s  previous  notice  to  the  other,  may  demand  a  revision  thereof,  on  or  after  the  first 
of  July,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-two,  with  a  view  to  the  insertion 
therein  of  such  amendments  as  experience  shall  prove  to  be  desirable. 

ARTICLE  XXIII. 

It  is  hereby  expressly  stipulated  that  the  British  government  and  its  subjects  will 
be  allowed  free  and  equal  participation  in  all  privileges,  immunities,  and  advant¬ 
ages  that  may  have  been,  or  may  be  hereafter,  granted  by  his  majesty  the  Tycoon  of 
Japan  to  the  government  or  subjects  of  any  other  nation. 

ARTICLE  XXIV. 

The  ratification  of  this  treaty,  under  the  hand  of  her  majesty  the  Queen  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland,  and  under  the  name  and  seal  of  his  majesty  the  Tycoon  of  Jap¬ 
an,  respectively,  shall  be  exchanged  at  Yedo  within  a  year  from  this  day  of  signature. 

In  token  whereof,  the  respective  plenipotentiaries  have  signed  and  sealed  this 
treaty. 

Done  at  Yedo,  this  twenty-sixth  day  of  August,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
fifty-eight,  corresponding  to  the  Japanese  date,  the  eighteenth  day  of  the  seventh 

month  of  the  fifth  year  of  Ansei  Tsut  sinonye  mma. 

(Signed),  Elgin  and  Kincardine. 

Midzno  Tsikfogono  Kami. 

Nagai  Gembano  Kami. 

Inouwye  Sinano  no  Kami. 

Hori  Oribeno  Kami. 

Iwase  Higono  Kami. 

Tsuda  Hanzabro. 


APPENDIX. 


635 


No.  IV. 

TRADE  RETURNS  BETWEEN  SHANGHAI  AND  JAPAN. 


IMPORTS  FROM  JAPAN  FROM  llTII  NOT.  TO  SlST  DEC.,  1858. 


Dried  fish . 150  peculs. 

Ginseng . 18,471  catties. 

Mussels .  35  peculs. 

Pice .  1200  — 


Seaweed . . 

Shark-fins . . 

Vegetable  wax 


FROM  1ST  JANUARY  TO  30TH  JUNE,  1859. 


Beeswax .  54  peculs. 

Bicho  de  Mar .  377  — 

Brooms .  1000  pieces. 

Candles .  60  peculs. 

Camphor .  97  — 

Cassia .  77  — 

Copper  wire .  5  — 

Cotton  manufactures .  3200  pieces. 

Coal .  4955  tons. 

Dried  fish .  2335  peculs. 

Flax .  4  — 

Flour .  130  — 

Fungus .  9  — 

Ginger .  3  — 

Ginseng . 36,746  catties. 

Hemp  cloth .  589  pieces. 

Imitation  leather  ware  ...  4  peculs 

Japan  root .  75  — 


Isinglass  (Kanting) 

Medicines . 

Mushrooms . 

Mussels . 

Nut-galls . 

Oil,  vegetable . 

Paper . 

Peas  and  beans . 

Rice . 

Raw  silk . 

Seaweed,  all  kinds. 

Shark-fins . 

Silk  piece-goods .... 

Soy . 

V  ermicelli . 

Wax,  vegetable . 

Wheat . 


30  peculs. 
24  — 
1206  — 


.  1551  peculs. 

.  108  — 

.  226  — 

.  28  — 

.  1050  — 

.  4786  — 

.  180  — 

.  4180  — 
13,546  — 

.  366.42  peculs. 

61,561  peculs. 

.  1051  — 

70.28  peculs. 
.  562  peculs. 

.  459  — 

.  3469  — 

.  5537  — 


Alum . 

Cambrics . 

Cochineal . 

Cottons,  dyed. .. 

1 1  fancy . . 

“  printed 

Dates . 

Goats’  horns  ...... 

Handkerchiefs  .. 

Long  ells . . 

Medicines . . 

Lead . 

Iron . 

Indigo . 


RE -IMPORTS. 


625  peculs. 
200  pieces. 
360  catties. 
274  pieces. 
400  — 
8338  — 

34  peculs. 
2  — 
6296  dozen. 
40  pieces. 
Ill  peculs. 
704  — 
1352  — 

50  — 


Muslins .  100  pieces. 

Iron  wire .  33  peculs. 

Pepper,  black .  8  — 

Quicksilver .  50  flasks. 

Rhubarb .  109  peculs. 

Sugar .  5094  — 

Tin .  32  — 

“  plates .  379  boxes. 

Tortoise-shell  . .  2  peculs. 

Velvets  and  velveteens..  420  pieces. 

Window-glass .  15  boxes. 

Spanish  stripes .  48  pieces. 

Woolen  and  cotton  mix¬ 
tures  .  528  — 


EXPORTS  TO  JAPAN  FROM  27tII  NOV.  TO  31ST  DEC.,  1858. 


Cotton,  printed... 

Camlets . 

Cottons,  dyed . 

Handkerchiefs . 

Long  cloths,  gray. 

Long  ells . 

Muslins . 

Spanish  stripes ... 

Spelter . 

Tin . 

“  plates . 


1500  pieces. 
120  — 
300  — 
2506  dozen. 
2850  pieces. 
220  — 
100  — 
228  — 
500  peculs. 
325  — 
450  boxes. 


Betelnut . . 

Cloves . 

Cutch . 

Gamboge . 

Indigo . 

Liquorice . 

Mangrove  bark 

Medicines . 

Matting . 

Paper,  native... 
Redwood . 


292  peculs. 
200  — 

250  — 

1  — 

75  — 

27  peculs. 
50  — 

19  — 

5  bundles. 
2  peculs. 
300  — 


636 


APPENDIX. 


exports  to  japan  PROM  27th  nov.  to  31st  dec.,  1858 — continued. 


Rosewood .  500  peculs. 

Rhubarb .  132  — 

Sapanwood .  273G  — 


Tortoise-shell .  2  peculs. 

Turmeric .  1  — 

Window-glass .  6  boxes. 


FROM  1ST  JANUARY  TO  30tII  JUNE,  1859. 


Broadcloths . 

Cambrics . 

Camlets . 

Cottons,  dyed . . 

“  fancy . 

“  printed .., 

Damasks . 

Dimities . 

Drills,  gray . . 

Handkerchiefs . 

Eastings . 

Long  cloths,  gray.. 

“  white 
Long  ells . . 


.  280  pieces. 

.  400  — 

.  395  — 

.  7680  — 

.  3S43  — 
11,793  — 

.  1405  — 

.  200  — 

.  420  — 

19,005  dozen. 
.  46  pieces. 

15,198  — 

.  3600  — 

.  140  — 


Muslins .  625  — 

Spanish  stripes .  103  — 

Twills,  gray .  300  — 

Velvets  and  velveteens...  3448  — 

Woolen  and  cotton  mix¬ 
tures  .  867  — 

Window-glass .  21  boxes. 

Iron,  nail,  rod,  and  bar..  1352  peculs. 

Iron  wire .  33  — 

Lead .  824  — 

Quicksilver .  78  — 

Spelter .  852  — 

Steel .  55  — 

Tin  plates . \...  184  boxes. 

Tin .  60  peculs. 

Amber .  15  — 

Aniseed .  276  — 

Alum .  1875  — 

Betelnut .  1255  — 


“  husk . 

Birds’  nests . 

Buffalo  horns . 

Camphor,  native 

Cardamum . 

Carpets . 

Cassia  buds . 

Chestnut . 

China  root . 

“  pencils.... 

Cinnamon . 

Cloves . . 

Clamp  shells . 

Cocoanut  husk  .. 

Colors . 

Copperfoil . 

Cutch . 

Dates . 

Dye  stuff. . 

Earthenware  .... 


.  39  — 

.  .  6  — 

.  17  — 

2  — 

.  32  — 

.  2800  pieces. 

5  peculs. 
.  97  — 

.  25  — 

43,000  pieces. 
.  2  peculs. 

.  782  — 

.  14  — 

14  — 

8  — 

5  — 

.  218  — 

.  213  — 

.  68  — 

.  540  pieces. 


Ebony . 

..  350  peculs. 

Eggs,  preserved . 

..  1500  pieces. 

Fans . 

..  467 

Galangal . 

..  185  peculs. 

Gamboge . 

..  18  — 

Garroo-wood . 

..  30  — 

Ginseng . 

13.20  peculs. 

Goats’  hair . 

..  34  peculs. 

Gold  thread . 

4  cases. 

Gum,  dragons’  blood.. 

1.68  peculs. 

“  myrrh . 

2,50  — 

£  ‘  olibanum . 

103  peculs. 

Gypsum . 

..  1886  — 

Hartall . 

..  156  — 

Indigo . 

..  252  — 

Ink,  India . 

7  — 

Joss-sticks . 

5  — 

Laka-wood . 

13  — 

Lamp-wicks . 

..  10  — 

Liq.uorice . 

..  771  — 

Medicines . 

..  2748  — 

Mangrove  bark . 

..  1914  — 

Matting . 

..  2058  bundles. 

Nankeen  towels . 

..  200  pieces. 

Nutmegs . 

..  19  peculs. 

Orange  peel . 

3  — 

Paper . . . 

..  142  — 

Pepper,  black . 

..  120  — 

Putchuck . 

..  66  — 

Ratans . 

..  1706  — 

Redwood . 

..  720  — 

Red  and  yellow  lead  . . 

..  90  — 

Rhinoceros  horns . 

3  — 

Rhubarb . 

..  425  — 

Sandalwood . 

..  137  — 

Sapanwood . 

..  2076  — 

Seaweed . 

..  70  — 

Shark-skins . 

..  53  — 

Sheep-skins . 

..  4272  pieces. 

Silk  piece-goods . 

14  peculs. 

Sugar . 

.10,507  — 

‘  ‘  candy . 

..  1257  — 

Sticklac . . 

30  — 

Straw  shoes . 

..  586  pairs. 

Tortoise-shell . 

..  5  peculs. 

Tinfoil . 

4  — 

Turmeric . 

..  388  — 

Vermilion . 

..  135  — 

Woodware . 

2  — 

Leather  cushions . 

..  183  pieces. 

Liquorice . 

..  771  peculs. 

Lucraban  seed . 

..  487  — 

/ 


No.  Y. 

List  of  Articles  generally  sold,  and  of  Staples  found  in  the  Shops  at  Han-kow,  when  visited  by  H.  M.  Steam-ship  “Furious,”  Dec.,  1858. 


APPENDIX 


637 


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638 


APPENDIX. 


No.  VI. 

NOTE  ON  PROSTITUTION. 

Though  the  “social  evil”  is  never  an  agreeable  subject  to  treat  of,  it  enters  into 
the  manners  and  customs  of  the  people  in  a  manner  so  singular,  and  at  the  same  time 
so  prominent,  that  no  account  of  Japan  would  be  complete  without  some  allusion  to 
it.  The  same  order  which  governs  all  the  other  institutions  of  the  country  is  applied 
to  this  one.  There  is  nothing  slovenly  in  the  mode  of  administration.  Vice  itself  is 
systematized.  Thus  courtesans  are  divided  into  four  classes,  and  are  held  in  various 
degrees  of  estimation  according  to  their  rank  in  the  social  scale.  Two  distinct  quar¬ 
ters  of  this  vast  city  of  Yedo  are  set  apart  for  purposes  of  debauchery.  The  eastern 
suburb,  which  seems  to  be  frequented  by  the  middle  and  lower  classes,  contains  per¬ 
sons  of  the  second  and  third  class,  and  is  simply  a  den  of  infamy  where  the  poor 
creatures  flaunt  about  the  streets,  as  they  do  in  our  own  large  cities. 

Sinagawa,  however,  is  the  resort  of  the  aristocracy.  Hither  noblemen  repair  with 
their  wives  and  families,  to  pass  an  hour  or  two  in  the  society  of  women  who  are 
considered  the  most  highly  accomplished  of  their  sex.  Not  only  are  they  expert  in 
music,  singing,  painting,  dancing,  and  embroidery,  but  it  is  said  that  they  are  highly 
educated,  and  charm  by  reason  of  their  conversational  powers. 

Although  it  is  usual  to  visit  such  resorts  “nayboen,”  it  is  considered  no  disgrace 
for  the  master  of  the  house  to  be  accompanied  by  the  female  members  of  his  family. 
Nor  is  it  any  uncommon  thing  for  a  man  of  rank  to  choose  his  wife  from  an  estab¬ 
lishment  of  this  description.  That  a  woman  should  have  been  brought  up  in  one  of 
them  operates  in  no  way  unfavorably  against  her  in  a  social  point  of  view ;  nor  after 
her  eyebrows  are  pulled  out,  and  her  teeth  blackened,  is  she  less  likely  to  make  a 
good  wife  than  any  one  else.  It  would,  indeed,  be  somewhat  unfair  upon  her  if  she 
suffered  for  this  accident  of  her  early  life,  for  she  is  bought  as  a  mere  child  by  the 
degraded  men  who  speculate  in  this  trade,  of  indigent  parents,  who  are  unable  to 
maintain  a  family  of  girls,  and  at  the  age  of  seven  or  eight  enters  the  establishment. 
Her  first  years  are  spent  in  her  education,  and  after  she  is  grown  up  her  master  is 
ready  to  part  with  her  whenever  he  receives  a  fair  offer. 

As  it  was  just  at  the  gayest  hour  of  the  festive  day  that  we  rode  through  Sinagawa, 
every  house  contributed  its  swarms  of  gazers ;  on  each  side  their  faces,  painted  in 
pink  and  white,  rose  in  tiers  above  each  other.  I  could  not  judge  of  the  numbers, 
but  they  were  to  be  estimated  by  thousands  rather  than  hundreds.  The  houses  were 
handsomer  than  any  I  had  seen  in  Yedo,  except  the  residences  of  the  princes. 
We  could  generally  see  through  them  into  court-yards,  where  fountains  played  in 
cool  gardens. 

It  would  seem  that  the  government  not  only  sanctions  by  license  these  establish¬ 
ments,  but  lends  itself  to  the  still  farther  disgrace  of  deriving  a  direct  revenue  from 
this  infamous  source. 

Mr.  Loch  obtained  upon  good  authority  the  following  curious  information  upon 
the  subject,  with  which  he  has  kindly  furnished  me : 

“Prostitution  is  supported  and  protected  by  the  government,  large  districts  being 
set  apart  for  the  residence  of  the  females,  who  are  kept  under  strict  surveillance. 
Parents  who  are  unable,  or  disinclined  to  bring  up  their  female  children,  can  sell 
them  to  government  between  the  ages  of  six  and  ten.  Until  they  are  fourteen  they 
remain  as  servants,  and  are  educated  in  various  domestic  duties,  such  as  cooking, 
housekeeping,  etc.  At  that  age  they  come  on  the  regular  establishment,  are  open 


APPENDIX. 


639 


to  the  public,  and  are  obliged  to  serve  in  this  capacity  for  ten  years.  Should  any 
man,  before  that  period  elapses,  wish  to  marry  any  one  of  them,  he  must  pay  the 
government  a  sum  of  money  for  permission  to  do  so ;  her  name,  however,  being 
still  retained  on  the  books.  Should  no  such  offer  be  made,  at  the  expiry  of  the  ten 
years  she  is  returned  to  her  parents  or  friends,  with  a  small  sum  of  money,  and  hav¬ 
ing  been  taught  some  employment.  No  disgrace  attaches  to  women  who  have  been 
brought  up  in  this  manner,  and  they  generally  make  good  marriages ;  but  should 
she  be  guilty,  after  marriage,  of  any  indiscretion,  it  is  in  her  case  (as  in  that  of  every 
•Japanese  wife)  punishable  by  death.” 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

G 

r- 

i 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 

29 

30 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

G 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

1G 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 


APPENDIX. 


No.  VII. 

TIIER3IOMETPJCAL  REGISTER  KEPT  BY  DR.  SAUNDERS,  R.N., 


From  April  1,  1858,  to  March  31,  1859. 


4 

Position. 

s 

«  i 
£  < 

© 

«»  i 

V 

© 

? 

X 

O 

a 

© 

u, 

— * 

X 

£3 

Wind. 

j 

Weather. 

o 

O 

O 

O 

i 

At  Shanghai 

60 

70 

58 

w. 

Showery. 

do. 

50 

67 

50 

N.W. 

Fine. 

do. 

46 

54 

46 

S. 

Fine. 

do. 

46 

57 

46 

N.E. 

Fine. 

do. 

52 

00 

45 

E. 

Rainv. 

do. 

51 

57 

50 

E. 

Rain}*. 

do. 

51 

00 

50 

S.E. 

Rainy. 

do. 

51 

54 

51 

E. 

Fine. 

do. 

51 

“oo 

51 

E. 

Fine. 

At  Woosung 

54 

64 

54 

N. 

Fine. 

Lat.  33°  16'  X.,  Long.  122°  55'  E. 

55 

GO 

54 

E. 

Fine. 

35°  47'  N.,  123°  13'  E. 

50 

54 

49 

N.E. 

Fine. 

37°  19’  N.,  121°  38'  E. 

45 

62 

44 

N. 

Fine. 

In  Gulf  of  Pechelee 

49 

53 

46 

N.E. 

Fine. 

do. 

50 

54 

48 

N.E. 

Fine. 

do. 

55 

61 

48 

N.E. 

Fine. 

do. 

53 

59 

53 

w. 

Fine. 

do. 

50 

62 

49 

SAY. 

Rainv,  and  squally. 

do. 

58 

65 

49 

S.W. 

Fine,  squally. 

do. 

53 

66 

52 

N. 

Fine. 

do. 

49 

G5 

50 

SAY. 

Fine,  squally. 

do. 

54 

62 

48 

E. 

Fine. 

do. 

47 

58 

42 

E. 

Fogg 7,  squally. 

do. 

53 

61 

53 

NAY. 

bine. 

do. 

oo 

58 

53 

SAY. 

Fine,  strong  breeze. 

do. 

51 

60 

51 

S.E. 

Rain  a*. 

do. 

50 

59 

50 

NAY. 

Foggy,  fine. 

do. 

50 

62 

48 

NAY. 

Fine,  gale. 

do. 

56 

62 

51 

NAY. 

Fine,  strong  breeze. 

do. 

60 

74 

60 

W. 

Fogg}*. 

do. 

60 

68 

60 

s.w. 

Foggy,  fine. 

do. 

58 

66 

58 

N.E. 

Rainy,  squally. 

do. 

57 

64 

57 

W. 

bine. 

do. 

57“ 

67 

57 

NAY. 

Fine. 

do. 

59 

61 

55 

SAY. 

Fine. 

do. 

58 

64 

58 

S. 

Rainy. 

do. 

57 

64 

0/ 

SAY. 

Fine. 

do. 

61 

67 

54 

S. 

Fine,  squally. 

do. 

61 

61 

59 

S.E. 

Shower}*,  thun.,  etc. 

do. 

54 

65 

54 

N. 

Showery,  squally. 

do. 

58 

59 

58 

N. 

Fine,  strong  breeze. 

do. 

60 

60 

59 

SAY. 

bine,  strong  breeze. 

do. 

59 

60 

57 

S.W. 

Fine,  strong  breeze. 

do. 

60 

68 

60 

S. 

Fine. 

do. 

60 

.. 

68 

60 

SAY. 

Fine. 

do. 

GO 

66 

60 

S. 

Showery. 

do. 

57 

65 

63 

N. 

Showery. 

do. 

59 

.. 

64 

56 

NAY. 

Fine. 

do. 

63 

.. 

63 

53 

W. 

Fine. 

do. 

63 

63 

58 

W. 

Fine. 

do. 

G4 

64 

55 

SAY. 

Fine. 

do. 

65 

65 

60 

SAY. 

Fine. 

do. 

64 

65  | 

60 

W. 

Fine. 

do. 

66 

•• 

70 

62 

SAY. 

Fine. 

APPENDIX. 


641 


Date. 

1858. 

Position. 

Ther.  in  Shade, 

7  A.M. 

Thor,  in  Shade. 

4  P.M. 

Extreme  Iieat. 

Extreme  Cold. 

Wind. 

Weather. 

o 

o 

o 

o 

May  25 

In  Gulf  of  Pechelee 

67 

S. 

Fine. 

26 

do. 

64 

E. 

Cloudy,  strong:  br. 

27 

do. 

64 

N. 

line. 

28 

do. 

68 

72 

S.W. 

Fine. 

29 

do. 

69 

73 

79 

69 

s.w. 

Fine. 

Sund.  30 

do. 

68 

71 

71 

68 

S.E. 

Fine. 

31 

do. 

71 

71 

75 

67 

S.W. 

Showery,  squall}-. 

June  1 

do. 

67 

71 

76 

65 

S.E. 

Fine. 

2 

do. 

71 

80 

85 

68 

s. 

Showery. 

3 

do. 

69 

76 

79 

69 

s. 

Showery,  thunder. 

4 

do. 

72 

i  82 

82 

71 

s.w. 

Fine. 

5 

In  Peiho  River 

78 

88 

88 

74 

s.w. 

Showerv. 

Sund.  6 

At  Tientsin 

76 

79 

79 

70 

N.E. 

Fine. 

7 

do. 

72 

i  75 

82 

65 

N.W. 

Showerv,  squally. 

8 

do. 

62 

72 

72 

62 

N.W. 

Showerv,  squallv. 

9 

do. 

65 

74 

74 

63 

N.W. 

Fine,  squally. 

10 

do. 

65 

76 

76 

62 

N.E. 

Fine. 

11 

do. 

64 

79 

79 

64 

S.E. 

Fine. 

12 

do. 

68 

75 

77 

67 

E. 

Fine. 

Sund.  13 

do. 

67 

71 

73 

67 

E. 

Showery. 

14 

do. 

66 

80 

80 

66 

N.W. 

Fine. 

15 

do. 

72 

83 

84 

72 

S.W. 

Shower}-,  thun.,  etc. 

16 

do. 

73 

82 

82 

72 

E. 

Fine,  squally. 

17 

do. 

72 

81 

82 

72 

E. 

Fine. 

18 

do. 

75 

83 

86 

73 

N. 

Showerv,  thun.,  etc. 

19 

do. 

69 

82 

82 

69 

N.W. 

Fine. 

Sund.  20 

do. 

73 

83 

83 

73 

S.E. 

Fine. 

21 

do. 

73 

70 

74 

70 

N.E. 

Rainy. 

22 

do. 

68 

77 

77 

68 

E. 

Fine. 

23 

do. 

71 

78 

78 

70 

S.E. 

Cloudy,  thunder,  etc. 

24 

do. 

71 

81 

81 

71 

S.W. 

Fine. 

25 

do. 

71 

83 

83 

71 

S.E. 

Fine. 

26 

do. 

71 

82 

84 

71 

S.E. 

Fine. 

Sund.  27 

do. 

72 

83 

83 

72 

S.E. 

Fine,  thunder,  etc. 

28 

do. 

71 

71 

76 

71 

S.E. 

Rainy,  thunder,  etc. 

29 

do. 

69 

76 

77 

69 

S.E. 

Fine.* 

30 

do. 

71 

84 

83 

71 

W. 

Fine. 

July  1 

do. 

71 

82 

83 

71 

S. 

Fine. 

2 

do.' 

—  O 

i  o 

84 

83 

O 

i  6 

s. 

Fine. 

O 

O 

do. 

79 

91 

91 

78 

S.W. 

Fine. 

Sund.  4 

do. 

81 

92 

96 

80 

w. 

Fine. 

5 

do. 

83 

92 

92 

82 

S.W. 

Fine. 

6 

Steaming  down  Peiho  River 

81 

.  . 

92 

81 

S.E. 

Fine. 

rr 

( 

In  Gulf  of  Pechelee 

83 

83 

S.E. 

Fine. 

8 

Lat.  39°  56'  N.,  Long.  r2(P  5'  E. 

78 

80 

80 

78 

N. 

Rainy. 

9 

37°  49'  N.,  122°  7  E. 

72 

82 

82 

72 

S.E. 

Fine. 

10 

35°  15'  N.,  122°  47'  E. 

75 

81 

81 

75 

S. 

Shower}-. 

Sund.  11 

323  18'  N.,  122°  50'  E. 

81 

83 

83 

80 

S.W. 

Fine. 

12 

At  Shanghai 

82 

86 

86 

82 

s.w. 

Fine,  lightning. 

13 

do. 

85 

91 

91 

83 

s. 

Fine,  lightning. 

14 

do. 

86 

94 

94 

86 

s. 

Fine. 

15 

do. 

86 

92 

92 

86 

Calm.  , 

Fine. 

16 

do. 

86 

91 

Calm. 

Fine. 

17 

do. 

86 

93 

Calm. 

Fine. 

Sund.  18 

do. 

87 

93 

Calm. 

Cloudy,  thunder,  etc. 

19 

do. 

81 

86’ 

Calm. 

Showery. 

20 

do. 

83 

82 

S. 

Showery,  thun.,  etc. 

21 

do. 

83 

9  . 

Showery,  thun.,  etc. 

22 

do. 

81 

81 

•  • 

Showery,  thun.,  etc. 

23 

do. 

79 

83 

•  . 

Showerv-,  thun.,  etc. 

24 

do. 

79 

86 

Fine. 

Ss 


642 


APPENDIX. 


Date, 

1858. 

Position. 

Tlier.  in  Shade, 

7  A.M. 

Ther.  in  Shade, 

4  P.M. 

Extreme  Heat. 

Extreme  Cold.  1 

Wind. 

~1 

Weather. 

J  uly, 

o 

o 

o 

o 

Sund.  25 

At  Shanghai 

81 

87 

Fine. 

26 

do. 

83 

85 

Fine. 

27 

do. 

83 

87 

Squall}',  thun.,  etc. 

28 

do. 

81 

82 

Showery,  thun.,  etc. 

29 

do. 

80 

86 

Fine. 

30 

do. 

80 

85 

Fine. 

31 

Steaming  down  river 

84 

85 

Fine. 

Aug., 

• 

Sund.  1 

Lat.  31°  33'  N.,  Long.  125°  0'  E. 

83 

83 

Showery. 

2 

31°  51'  N.,  127°  38'  E. 

83 

84 

Fine. 

o 

O 

At  Nagasaki,  Japan 

82 

84 

Showerv*. 

4 

do. 

84 

86 

Fine. 

5 

32°  44'  N.  do.  129°  52'  E. 

83 

87 

Fine. 

G 

31°  0'  N.  do.  130°  20'  E. 

84 

83 

Showery. 

r? 

/ 

Near  Cape  ChichacofF 

84 

84 

s.w. 

Showery,  gale. 

Sund.  8 

Lat.  31°  21'  N.,  Long.  132°  5'  E. 

84 

85 

s.w. 

Showery,  gale. 

9 

31°  51'  N.,  136°  49'  E. 

83 

83 

S.W. 

line,  strong  breeze. 

10 

At  Simoda,  Japan 

78 

84 

w. 

Fine,  strong  breeze. 

11 

do. 

80 

84 

w. 

Fine. 

12 

At  Yedo,  Japan 

78 

84 

w. 

Fine,  squally. 

13 

do. 

82 

80 

s.w. 

Showerv,  squally. 

14 

do. 

73 

76 

E. 

Rainy. 

Sund. 15 

do. 

71 

78 

Calm. 

Fine. 

16 

do. 

73 

72 

N.E. 

Showery. 

17 

do. 

72 

78 

N. 

Fine. 

18 

do. 

73 

77 

Fine. 

19 

do. 

71 

76 

Cloudy. 

20 

do. 

68 

Fine. 

21 

do. 

75 

si 

Showery. 

Sund. 22 

do. 

—  r- 

lO 

79 

Rainv. 

23 

do. 

77 

80 

Showery,  strong  hr. 

24 

do. 

76 

8o 

Fine. 

25 

do. 

75 

84 

Fine. 

26 

do. 

73 

Fine. 

27 

Steaming  out  of  Yedo  River 

75 

78 

Fine. 

28 

Lat.  32°  54'  N.,  Long.  135°  33'  E. 

81 

82 

Showery. 

Sund.  29 

31°  57'  N.,  131°  51'  E. 

83 

80 

Rainy,  gale. 

30 

Cape  Chicliacoff 

80 

82 

Showery,  squally. 

31 

Lat.  31°  2'  N.,  Long.  125°  31'  E. 

79 

76 

•  • 

Showery,  gale. 

Sept.  1 

30°  33'  N.,  123°  53'  E. 

74 

79 

82 

70 

N.W. 

Showery,  strong  hr. 

2 

In  Woosung  River 

77 

78 

80 

70 

N.W. 

Showerv. 

o 

C 

At  Shanghai 

74 

81 

N.W. 

Fine,  strong  breeze. 

4 

do. 

71 

83 

83 

70 

N. 

Fine. 

Sund.  £ 

do. 

71 

79 

82 

69 

N. 

Fine,  strong  breeze. 

6 

do. 

r-n 
/  O 

82 

84 

68 

S.E. 

Fine. 

r~ 

l 

do. 

74 

80 

80 

r-O 

/  o 

S.E. 

Fine,  squally. 

8 

do. 

76 

80 

80 

73 

E. 

Fine. 

9 

do. 

78 

85 

85 

74 

S.E. 

Fine. 

10 

do. 

79 

82 

85 

74 

S.E. 

Fine. 

11 

do. 

79 

80 

80 

75 

E. 

Showery,  strong  br. 

Sund.  12 

do. 

79 

80 

80 

76 

E. 

Cloudy,  strong  br. 

13 

do. 

79 

80 

82 

76 

S.E. 

Showery,  strong  br. 

14 

do. 

79 

81 

81 

75 

S.E. 

Showerv. 

15 

do. 

79 

87 

87 

75 

S. 

Showery,  lightning. 

16 

do. 

78 

77 

82 

72 

N.W. 

Rainy. 

17 

do. 

76 

78 

80 

70 

S.E. 

Showery. 

18 

do. 

75 

78 

78 

69 

S.E. 

Fine,  strong  breeze. 

Sund.  19 

do. 

74 

82 

82 

74 

S.E. 

Fine. 

20 

do. 

78 

83 

85 

69 

S. 

Fine. 

21 

do. 

73 

77 

78 

70 

N.E. 

Fine,  strong  breeze. 

22 

do. 

75 

77 

79 

69 

S.E. 

Fine. 

APPENDIX. 


G43 


Date, 

1858. 

Position. 

\ 

Ther.  in  Shade, 

7  A.M. 

1  her.  in  Shade, 

4  F.M. 

Extreme  Kent. 

Extreme  Cold. 

Wind. 

Weather. 

o 

O 

o 

o 

Sept.  23 

At  Shanghai 

75 

75 

75 

66 

N. 

Rainy,  squallv- 

24 

do. 

69 

71 

71 

65 

N. 

Rainy,  squally. 

25 

do. 

68 

73 

74 

63 

N.W. 

Fine. 

Sund.  26 

do. 

67 

75 

77 

65 

E. 

Fine. 

27 

do. 

69 

75 

77 

65 

E. 

Fine. 

28 

do. 

71 

To 

77 

66 

E. 

Fine. 

29 

do. 

73 

77 

79 

69 

S.E. 

Fine. 

30 

do. 

—  o 
i  O 

80 

81 

70 

S. 

Showery. 

Oct.  1 

do. 

70 

65 

71 

61 

N. 

Cloudy,  squalh\ 

2 

do. 

64 

71 

72 

60 

N.W. 

Fine. 

Sund.  3 

do. 

65 

74 

74 

64 

N.E. 

Fine. 

4 

do. 

67 

71 

74 

64 

N.E. 

Cloudy. 

5 

do. 

67 

72 

73 

60 

E. 

Fine. 

6 

do. 

64 

71 

73 

62 

E. 

Fine. 

r~ 

( 

do. 

63 

72 

72 

62 

S.E. 

Fine. 

8 

do. 

66 

73 

73 

64 

S.E. 

Fine. 

9 

do. 

65 

73 

73 

64 

S.E. 

Fine. 

Sund.  10 

do. 

65 

70 

71 

64 

E. 

Rainy. 

11 

do. 

66 

72 

73 

60 

N.E. 

Fine. 

12 

do. 

65 

72 

72 

59 

E. 

Fine. 

13 

do. 

63 

72 

73 

61 

E. 

Fine. 

34 

do. 

66 

69 

71 

55 

N.E. 

Fine. 

15 

do. 

57 

69 

69 

57 

E. 

Fine. 

16 

do. 

64 

65 

69 

57 

N. 

Cloudy. 

Sund.  17 

do. 

62 

67 

69 

56 

N.E. 

Fine. 

18 

do. 

59 

67 

69 

56 

N.E. 

Fine. 

19 

do. 

62 

67 

68 

54 

N.E. 

Fine. 

20 

do. 

56 

67 

68 

54 

N. 

Fine. 

21 

do. 

64 

67 

69 

61 

E. 

Cloudy. 

22 

do. 

63 

69 

69 

53 

S.E. 

Fine. 

23 

do. 

55 

64 

64 

49 

N.W. 

Fine. 

Sund.  24 

do. 

52 

67 

67 

52 

W. 

Fine. 

25 

do. 

52 

68 

68 

52 

E. 

Fine. 

26 

do. 

60 

70 

70 

51 

S.E. 

Fine. 

27 

do. 

53 

70 

70 

52 

W. 

Fine. 

28 

do. 

55 

67 

67 

55 

E. 

Fine. 

29 

do. 

60 

71 

71 

56 

S.E. 

Fine. 

30 

do. 

00 

62 

64 

45 

N.W. 

Fine. 

Sund.  31 

do. 

48 

66 

66 

47 

W. 

Fine. 

Nov.  1 

do. 

49 

69 

70 

48 

s.w. 

Fine. 

2 

do. 

50 

69 

70 

49 

W. 

Fine. 

o 

O 

do. 

47 

68 

69 

47 

N.W. 

Foggy,  fine. 

4 

do. 

53 

62 

63 

48 

N.E. 

Fine. 

5 

do. 

51 

63 

63 

48 

E. 

Fine. 

6 

do. 

55 

67 

67 

46 

W. 

Fine. 

Sund.  7 

do. 

50 

66 

69 

42 

N.W. 

Fine. 

8 

Steaming  down  river 

46 

62 

66 

41 

N.W. 

Fine. 

9 

In  Yang-tse-Keang 

58 

68 

69 

50 

S. 

Fine. 

10 

do. 

57 

67 

71 

47 

w. 

Fine. 

11 

Off  Fooshan 

00 

66 

66 

43 

N.W. 

Fine. 

12 

do. 

53 

67 

69 

44 

w. 

Fine. 

13 

do. 

56 

67 

73 

I51 

w. 

Fine. 

Sund.  14 

Between  Fooshan  and  Kiang-yin 

57 

66 

68 

46 

E. 

Fine. 

15 

Near  Kiang-yin 

54 

57 

60 

'42 

N.E. 

Fine,  strong  breeze. 

16 

Silver  Island  hock 

37 

53 

55 

36 

E. 

Fine. 

17 

do. 

42 

62 

62 

42 

S.E. 

Fine. 

18 

do. 

49 

? 

66 

47 

N.E. 

Fine. 

19 

do. 

50 

? 

65 

48 

. 

Fine. 

2C 

Between  Chin-kiang  and  Nanking 

48 

65 

67 

48 

S.W. 

Fine. 

jSund.  21 

Between  Nenkin  and  Taiping 

48 

62 

64 

40 

N.E. 

Fine. 

1  2S 

!]  Off  Taiping 

46 

6! 

61 

45 

S.E. 

Fine. 

644 


APPENDIX. 


Date. 

1858. 

Position. 

Ther.  in  Shade, 

1  A.M. 

Ther.  in  Shade, 

4  P.M. 

Extreme  Heat. 

Extreme  Cold. 

Wind. 

i 

Weather. 

Nov.  23 

Between  Taiping  and  Wuhu 

o 

45 

o 

65 

0 

65 

o 

45 

w. 

Fine. 

24 

Off  Kewheen 

50 

62 

62 

42 

w. 

Fine. 

25 

Between  Kewheen  andTsung-yang 

46 

63 

63 

44 

N.W. 

Fine. 

26 

Off*  Nganking-foo 

49 

62 

62 

45 

N. 

Fine. 

27 

Above  Tungliu 

48 

65 

65 

48 

N. 

Fine. 

Sund.  28 

Near  Pangtsch-hien 

53 

52 

58 

48 

N.E. 

Fine,  strong  breeze. 

29 

Off  Hukau 

31 

48 

48 

28 

N.E. 

Fine. 

30 

Off  Kiukiang-foo 

39 

V 

44 

31 

E. 

Fine. 

Dec.  1 

Between  Kewkeang  and  Kecliow 

38 

51 

51 

34 

Calm. 

Fine. 

2 

Passing  Ivechow 

49 

55 

55 

42 

N.E. 

Cloudy. 

o 

O 

Between  Ivechow  and  Hwanchow 

48 

54 

54 

37 

N.W. 

Cloudy. 

4 

Above  Hwanchow 

43 

53 

53 

37 

E. 

Showery. 

Sund.  5 

Between  Hwanchow  and  Yanglo 

47 

48 

50 

43 

E. 

Rainy. 

6 

Between  Yanglo  and  Hankow 

36 

? 

48 

36 

E. 

Foggy,  fine. 

7 

At  anchor  off  Hankow 

43 

57 

57 

39 

N.E. 

Fine. 

8 

do. 

47 

63 

63 

42 

Calm. 

Fine. 

9 

do. 

52 

54 

57 

48 

N.E. 

Rainy. 

10 

do. 

45 

57 

57 

39 

N.E. 

Fine. 

11 

do. 

54 

58 

58 

44 

E. 

Fine. 

Sund.  12 

Between  Hankow  and  Hwanchow 

50 

p 

50 

47 

E. 

Foggy,  showery. 

13 

Betw.  Hwancho'vtf  and  Woochang 

35 

56 

56 

35 

N. 

Fine. 

14 

Between  Hwanchow  and  Paho 

43 

? 

50 

32 

N. 

Fine. 

15 

Between  Paho  and  Shihwavu 

37 

51 

51 

31 

S.E. 

Fine. 

16 

Between  Shihwayu  and  Wooseuh 

43 

43 

52 

43 

S.E. 

Rainy,  hail. 

17 

Between  Wooseuh  and  Ivew-keang 

44 

45 

53 

44 

S.E. 

Rainy,  squally. 

18 

do. 

44 

? 

54 

42 

E. 

Rainy,  squallv. 

Sund.  19 

do. 

44 

44 

49 

41 

N. 

Rain}7. 

20 

Near  Kew-keang 

42 

46 

51 

42 

E. 

Rainy. 

21 

At  anchor  below  Kew-keang 

47 

? 

57 

42 

W. 

Rainy. 

22 

do. 

43 

46 

54 

43 

E. 

Rainy. 

23 

do. 

43 

? 

49 

39 

W. 

Rainy. 

24 

Between  Kew-keang  and  Tungliu 

44 

46 

50 

42 

N.E. 

Rainy,  strong  breeze. 

25 

Between  Tungliu  and  Nganking 

43 

45 

47 

41 

N.E. 

Rainy. 

Sund.  26 

Between  Nganking  and  Toonglu 

39 

41 

46 

39 

N.E. 

Rain,  snow. 

27 

Between  Tookeaow  and  Woohoo 

43 

46 

49 

43 

N.E. 

Iiainv. 

28 

Between  Woohoo  and  Taiping 

41 

45 

46 

40 

N. 

Rainy. 

29 

Between  Taiping  and  Nanking 

39 

39 

44 

37 

N.E. 

Snow. 

30 

Between  Nanking  and  Chosan 

34 

38 

46 

34 

N.E. 

Snow. 

31 

Between  Chosan  and  Plover  P. 

34 

41 

43 

34 

N.E. 

Cloudy. 

1859. 
Jan.  1 

At  Shanghai 

36 

47 

47 

33 

W. 

Fine.  , 

Sund.  2 

do. 

32 

33 

37 

28 

N.W. 

Fine. 

3 

do. 

29 

34 

40 

27 

N.W. 

Fine. 

4 

do. 

23 

38 

40 

23 

S.W. 

Fine. 

5 

do. 

30 

39 

45 

30 

N.W. 

Fine. 

6 

do. 

26 

43 

47 

26 

N.W. 

Fine. 

7 

do. 

30 

? 

41 

30 

N.W. 

Fine. 

8 

do. 

29 

41 

45 

29 

E. 

Fine. 

Sund.  9 

do. 

36 

51 

54 

36 

S. 

Fine. 

10 

do. 

37 

55 

53 

34 

w. 

Fine. 

11 

do. 

31 

45 

52 

31 

N.W. 

Fine. 

12 

do. 

33 

47 

53 

33 

E. 

Fine. 

13 

do. 

36 

53 

56 

36 

W. 

Fine. 

14 

do. 

42 

42 

47 

33 

N.E. 

Rainy,  squallv. 

15 

do. 

29 

37 

49 

28 

N.W. 

Fine. 

Sund.  16 

do. 

27 

39 

44 

27 

W. 

Fine. 

17 

do. 

29 

37 

44 

25 

N.W. 

Fine,  squally. 

18 

do. 

21 

40 

40 

21 

S. 

Fine. 

19 

do. 

35 

55 

55 

35 

s. 

Fine. 

20 

do. 

41 

49 

52 

41 

N.E. 

Pogg3T- 

Rainy. 

21 

do. 

44 

45 

47 

39 

N.E. 

APPENDIX. 


645 


Date, 

1859. 

Position. 

1  Ther.  in  Shade, 
7  A.M. 

Ther.  in  Shade, 

4  P.M. 

Extreme  Heat. 

Extreme  Cold. 

Wind. 

Weather. 

o 

o 

o 

o 

Jan.  22 

At  Shanghai 

39 

42 

N. 

Rain}'. 

Sund.  23 

do. 

37 

34 

. 

N.W. 

Rain,  snow. 

24 

do. 

34 

41 

,  , 

N. 

Cloudy. 

25 

do. 

39 

? 

N.E. 

Rainy. 

26 

Steaming  down  river 

42 

41 

27 

N.E. 

Cloudy. 

27 

Anchor  at  Woosung 

30 

31 

27 

N.E. 

Fine. 

28 

Steaming  down  river 

31 

43 

26 

N.NE. 

Fine. 

29 

Between  Woosung  and  Hong  Kong 

49 

50 

N.NE. 

Cloudy. 

Sund.  30 

do. 

53 

54 

N.NE. 

Misty  rain. 

31 

do. 

56 

58 

N.E. 

Cloudy. 

Feb.  1 

Pedro  Blanca  in  sight 

59 

66 

3  N. 

Fine. 

2 

Anchor  at  Hong  Kong 

56 

57 

2  N.W. 

Showerv. 

o 

O 

Canton  River 

53 

51 

3  N. 

Cloudy. 

4 

do. 

45 

46 

2  N.W. 

Rainv. 

5 

do. 

44 

? 

2  N. 

Showery. 

Sund.  6 

do. 

46 

51 

4  N.W. 

Cloudy. 

7 

do. 

48 

00 

2  N.W. 

Cloudy. 

8 

do. 

46 

61 

1  S.E. 

Fine. 

9 

do. 

54 

64 

1  S.E. 

Misty  rain. 

10 

do. 

59 

69 

Calm. 

Fine. 

11 

do. 

59 

68 

2  N.W. 

Fine. 

12 

do. 

59 

68 

3  W. 

Fine.  , 

Sund.  13 

do. 

53 

69 

2  N.W. 

Fine. 

14 

do. 

52 

69 

2  S.E. 

Fine. 

15 

do. 

59 

71 

Calm. 

Fine. 

16 

Anchor  at  Macao 

64 

67 

Calm. 

Fine. 

17 

Between  Macao  and  Hainan 

58 

63 

N.E. 

Fine. 

18 

Hainan 

70 

73 

N.E. 

Fine. 

19 

Hoilangshan 

64 

68 

E. 

Fine. 

Sund.  20 

St.  John’s 

62 

65 

E.NE. 

Fine. 

21 

Between  St.  John’s  and  C.  R. 

57 

58 

N.E. 

Cloudy, 

22 

Hong  Kong 

53 

60 

N. 

Fine. 

23 

do. 

53 

66 

E. 

Fine. 

24 

do. 

53 

60 

E. 

Showery. 

25 

do. 

59 

64 

E. 

Showery. 

26 

do. 

65 

73 

N.E. 

Cloudy. 

Sund. 27 

do. 

69 

75 

Calm. 

Misty  rain. 

28 

do. 

73 

73 

Calm. 

Cloudy. 

Mar.  1 

do. 

73 

74 

Calm. 

Showerv. 

2 

Canton  River 

69 

74 

S.E. 

Thund.,  lightg.,  etc. 

3 

do. 

65 

60 

E. 

Rainv. 

4 

Steaming  out  of  river 

51 

56 

N.E. 

Cloudy. 

5 

Lat.  N.,  Long.  E. 

71 

74 

E. 

Fine. 

Sund.  6 

77 

70 

E. 

Fine. 

7 

12°  40'  N.,  E. 

80 

82 

E. 

Fine. 

8 

10°  7'  N.,  E. 

80 

82 

E. 

Fine. 

9 

7°  23'  N.,  E. 

80 

82 

S.E. 

Fine. 

10 

4°  20'  N.,  E. 

82 

83 

S.E. 

Showery. 

11 

Pedro  Blanca 

79 

76 

N.W. 

Showery. 

12 

At  Singapore 

76 

82 

N.E. 

Showery. 

Sund.  13 

Left  Singapore  2  P.M. 

82 

83 

W. 

Fine. 

14 

M.  Straits  of  Malacca 

79 

84 

W. 

Fine. 

15 

At  Penang 

82 

85 

N.W. 

Fine. 

16 

Left  Penang  8  A.M. 

80 

85 

E. 

Fine. 

17 

Lat.  Long. 

84 

,  , 

N. 

Fine. 

18-31 

THE  END. 


/ 


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Beckwourth’s  Life  and  Adventures.  The  Life  and  Adventures  of  James 

P.  Beckwocetii,  Mountaineer,  Scout,  and  Pioneer,  and  Chief  of  the  Crow  Nation  of  Indians. 
Written  from  his  own  Dictation.  By  T.  D.  Bonner.  Illustrations.  12mo,  Muslin,  $1  25. 

Baird’s  Modern  Greece.  Modern  Greece :  A  Narrative  of  a  Residence  and 

Travels  in  that  Country.  With  Observations  on  its  Antiquities,  Literature,  Language,  Politics, 
and  Religion.  By  Henry  M.  Baird,  M.A.  Illustrated  by  about  CO  Engravings.  12mo,  Muslin, 


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